Harry's Game
by spooksfan08
Summary: Events from 1941, 1994 and now drag a man back into Harry's life that could change everything. A traitor in Northen Ireland, the death of a good man and the end of his volitile marriage nearly destroyed Harry and effectively ended his time as a field officer. Harry is playing a dangerous game if he thinks he can stop history repeating itself.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer I do not own Spooks. Kudos and BBC own everything related to Spooks. No copyright infringement is intended, nor should be inferred. The story follows directly on from Nightmare Scenarios. All characters from 2.1 onwards may appear - as will some original charcters.**

**Harry's Game - chapter 1.**

_12th May 1941_

_The London sky was alight with Luftwaffee dropping bombs on the city. The cloudless sky gave them ample vision over the city despite the strictly enforced black out that engulfs the city. Henry Parks looked up at the cloudless sky as his foster mother calls his name. The eight year old boy has no idea why Hitler wants to kill them all but he knows his father is away in Europe somewhere. His foster mother called his name again, a baby cried in the background. He knew his little sister was scared of the loud noises the planes made over head. He hated them too but he wasn't going to cry, not like Margaret. She was a baby. He was going to grow up and stop bullies like that. He was going to make the city safe again, make bullies like Hitler and his friends sorry. He shook his head and ran to where his foster mother held the five month old baby at the entrance to the Anderson shelter. _

_12 May 1994_

_"Henry is losing the plot." Juliet snapped as her heels clicked on the floor of Thames House. "I don't see him staying as Counter Terrorism's Section Head for very long."_

_"Is that right." Harry stated rather than asked. He was exhausted. Jane had flown into one of her rages the previous night, causing Catherine to sob her heart out while Graham hid in his room. He knew he wasn't the model husband or father but he had no idea what he had done this time. _

_"Oh, keep up Harry." Juliet snapped. "The world around us is changing. The peace talks in Northen Ireland. The impending implosion in Czechoslovakia. The Berlin Wall wont be around forever."_

_"And we'll all live happily ever after."_

_"Good morning Connie." Harry smiled at the acerbic analyst Henry insisted on having. He knew Connie was probably the best at what she did but the woman was infuriating. _

_"Is it? Some of us have been here since dawn."_

_"And some of us have children to put to school." Harry stated. "The kids had a bad night."_

_"Aw bless. Harry had to play the doting daddy again."_

_"Leave it Jules." Harry snapped as Henry appeared in the doorway of his office. Terry looked up and shook his head. The women in Section B were truely vicious at times._

_"Harry, Constance, Juliet." He called. "My office, now. And you Terrance."_

_"Oh great." Harry sighed. The last thing he wanted was to have another case dumped on him. He was barely home enough. He knew Jane was volitile when he was around, he dreaded to think what could happen when he was away._

_"We've had intel from the Belfast office regarding the Trade Conference in the city centre next week." The affable Geordie stated. "Harry I want youand Terry on the ground in the next 24 hours. It looks like a loyalist cell is operating out of the Catholic side of the city intending to destroy the conference."_

_"And I have to go." Harry sighed. "Henry, I'm not Irish and I am not Catholic. I am going to stand out a bit."_

_"Aye." Henry nodded. "Harry Pearce will stand out. Declan O'Dowd wont. You can do an Irish accent? I've had James work on an alias for you, Terrance and Juliet."_

_"Me?" Juliet snapped, her cut glass English accent cutting through the air._

_"Aye, you girl. And this time you are going as Shauna O'Dowd. Declan's sister. No funny business. I don't care what you do on your own time but this op is too important. You find out when and where that bomb is going off. You find out how the Hell they are getting their hands on explosives and you stop them. Constance. I want you here to liasie between them. We know that the Loyalists and the Republicans aren't keen on the conference but this is a new group. This lot are using techniques we last saw in WW2."_

_"Excuse me?" Harry narrowed his eyes._

_"Cyanide pills, things that were issued to officers in the SOE during their time in Occupied France. You both know the history."_

_"Yeah." Harry sighed. He hated the thought of facing Jane again. He knew the argument was going to turn violent once he told her he was going away and didn't know for how long. He also knew it wouldn't be him that raised a hand._

_##########################_

_31st May 2013_

_"_Harry Pearce." He answered the phone as he heard Ros and Lucas enter the Grid. He knew Lucas was still recovering from a collapsed lung and really didn't want to send him out into the field so soon after the debacle Jack Colville's legacy had caused. "Slow down Henry." Harry frowned, aware the old man was getting himself worked up into a state. Ruth stepped into the office and raised an eyebrow. Harry shrugged.

"Henry." Harry tried again. "Yes I still see Juliet occasionally. No she is no longer a serving officer."

"Juliet?" Ruth's stomach sank as she thought of the willowy former officer, who just happened to be the bane of their lives at one time. Harry closed his eyes as he listened to the panic in the old man's voice.

"Yes, I'll ask Alec to bring her in. Adam and Zafar will be on the way to you. Just tell me where you are." He paused. "Henry, it was back in the 1990s. It was over twenty years ago."

Ruth listened intently, trying to read her husband. He shook his head as the line went dead.

"What was that all about?"

"Henry is back in London." Harry ran a hand over his face. "I want Adam and Zaf to bring him in. Alec and Beth are to bring in Juliet."

"Ros will love that."

"It has to be done." Harry sighed. "I don't particularly want the woman back here either."

"What's going on?"

"Henry is worried." Harry sighed. "I don't know what has happened but he's referred to Operation Sunflower more than once."

"Sunflower. You were undercover in May 94? A man was killed."

"Yeah. We were there to ensure a trade conference went ahead without any trouble. The peace process was very much in it's infancy. If the conference had failed then there was a chance the peace talks would have been abandoned before they had begun."

"You and Juliet were stationed over there?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Nothing happened. Our fling was long over. She was dating someone in 6 I think."

"And you and Jane."

"We were tearing each other apart, without seeing what affect it had on the kids." Harry shook his head. "I was a different man then. I doubt you'd have given me the time of day. You would have been what? Twenty something."

"24. I was starting my Ph.D. Got recruited to GCHQ. Irrelevant, really. Harry, why is Henry so scared?"

"He's an old man." Harry sighed. "Eighty Seven. It's not the age to find out the man you believed to have been sentanced to life in the Maze for killing one of your team and leaving the other for dead is walking around London."

"Oh my God."

"Exactly. It seems Operation Sunflower is coming back to haunt him." Harry shook his head. "Ruth, he's been threatened and it seems he is right to be worried."

"I'll do some digging but nothing has come out of the Irish office in my threat assessment." She watched as he crossed to the office door and called fro Zaf and Adam. He gave them Henry's location before sending Alec and Beth to call Juliet in. "Harry, are we sure this isn't Henry worrying over something that isn't happening?"

"No." Harry sighed. "But if 'O Callaghan is out. If that turncoat survived the Maze then it isn't just Henry that is in danger."

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A/n please review. I wanted to put a little bit of Henry's background as well as Harry's in this story. Are the events of the 1990s going to catch up with Harry and the others? Can Harry survive another trip down memory lane? Will his marriage to Ruth survive?


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer not mine**

**31st May 2013**

Adam stared out of the car windscreen watching for any sign of Zaf and the former Section Head. He liked Henry Parks and knew the older man had saved their lives when they had been trapped by illegal arms dealers. He shook his head as the rain began to splatter the car. He had hoped to take Wes and Issy to the beach with Carrie once the case was over. He sighed as he realised he was risking turning into Henry - an old spook with regrets and wishes. He risked missing his kids grow up the same way Henry had missed his.

"Zaf?" He wound the window down as his friend approached.

"No sign of him. Harry did tell us the right place?"

"You want to ask him?" Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Er, you're more senior for a reason." Zaf smirked. Adam shook his head.

"Henry is an old man. Maybe he got it wrong."

"Or something happened?"

"Back to the Grid." Adam stated as he started the engine. "He may have called something in. Call Ruth."

"Ok." Zaf pulled out his mobile and pressed speed dial.

##############

**31st May 1994**

"Juliet." Connie walked across to her desk as the willowy brunette glared at her. "Your alias. James has been working on these since dawn. Try to show some enthusiasm."

"No." Juliet snapped. "I'll do my job but that's all I'm doing."

"Oh really? I thought the chance to spend some time away from the Grid with Harry would appeal to you."

"Like your time away with Hugo? Don't throw stones in glass houses Connie. One may just smash through and hit you."

Connie shook her head, smirking. She knew HArry and Juliet had been more than colleagues but the rumours she had started herself seemed to have had no affect on the young woman. Juliet Shaw was just as self determined and brash as ever. Terry and Harry ignored the women and focused on the practicalities of getting to Belfast.

#############

**31st May 2013**

"Alec?" Juliet limped towards him as Beth leant in the doorway. "What's going on?"

"Harry sent us to bring you back to Thames House." Beth stated calmly. Alec began moving around the flat collecting Juliet's coat and bag. He wandered into the kitchen in search of medication he knew she would need.

"Not a chance in Hell." Juliet snapped. "You go back and tell Harry Pearce I am longer work for the security services. I am not welcome in Thames House and certainly not on the Grid."

"Never stopped you before." Alec called from the kitchen. Juliet narrowed her eyes.

"It isn't Harry that wants you there." Beth stated. "Does the name Henry Parks mean anything to you?"

"Of course. He was half senile when he was Section Head."

"No he wasn't." Alec answered. "He's worried. Something about a former case. All I know was Northern Ireland was mentioned."

"Operation Sunflower." Beth stated. "Harry said you should know what that means."

"Oh God." Juliet frowned. "Oh God, that was years ago. Before Section D even existed as you know it." She took her coat from Alec. "That can't be happening again. That was put to bed in the 1990s."

"Well, it just woke up." Beth watched as Juliet led the way out of the flat. Alec sighed before following the women out of the door.

#################

"Harry." Ruth walked into the office without knocking. He looked up and waited, clearly worried.

"Zaf called. Henry missed the meet. Ros and Lucas have gone to his last known address to pick him up. Hopefully he's still there. Juliet is on her way in."

"Ah."

"Ah?" Ruth watched as her husband closed his eyes. She knew there was no way she could know everything about her husband's past. Secrets came with the territory, Ruth had made her peace with that when Elena had fallen into their lives once more. Now all she was worried about was what Harry couldn't tell her.

"Maybe it's for the best if Ros isn't here when they arrive."

"Maybe." Ruth agreed. "She has tried to kill Ros. Twice."

"I know." Harry ran a hand over his face. "She also kidnapped Lucas. None of which she remembers."

"Then how can we be sure that she remembers anything about Operation Sunflower? It was twenty years ago."

"We can't." Harry sighed. "I just wish I could forget it."

"Talk to me." Ruth rested a hand on his arm. "If something is coming back to haunt us. If Henry is scared enough to request he's picked up I need to know."

"You've read the file."

"Yes." Ruth agreed. "I have. But I need to know what it meant for Harry Pearce. What isn't in the file?" Ruth watched as his eyes clouded over.

"Like I said. I was a different man then. Not one you'd have looked at twice." Ruth frowned slightly. She knew he had always felt guilty about the way his marriage to Jane had ended. Now she was about to find out why.

"Let me be the judge of that. Anyway, it's the Harry I know now that I fell in love with." She watched as he smiled slightly and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Talk to me." She rested her cheek against his palm. Harry nodded.

"The roof? Ten minutes?"

"Ok." Ruth sighed. "The roof."

"I can't promise you'll like what you hear, Ruth."

"No." Ruth sighed. "I know. It doesn't change how I feel about you now." She held his gaze as he smiled slightly, relief evident in his eyes.

#########################

31st May 1994

"Dad?" Catherine walked into the living room as Harry buried his face in his hands.

"Hello you." He looked up.

"Graham is an idiot." She stated firmly. "I told him you aren't going away forever. He said you are."

"Oh." Harry frowned slightly.

"He said he heard you and her." Harry raised an eyebrow as Catherine put the emphasis on the word her.

"You mean Mum."

"That's what I said." The eleven year old stated. "He said you are going away because she was so awful to you. That you are never ever coming back."

"I am coming back." Harry stated firmly as his oldest child watched him.

"Promise?"

"Promise." Harry held her gaze. Catherine ran her hands through her long blonde hair and nodded.

"Mum." Catherine paused. "She shouldn't hit you. It's not right."

"She'll never do that to you and your brother."

"I know. If she did, I'd tell. I'd tell you and I'd tell Mrs Evans in school."

"Good girl." Harry hugged her, unsure of what his daughter had seen. "I'm going away to work. That's all. I'll be back. As soon as I can." He kissed her hair as her tears soaked his shirt.

####################

"Henry?" Ros pushed the door to the hotel room open. Henry always stayed in the same B&B when he was in London. It seemed to be appallingly bad trade craft to her but he was a creature of habit. Lucas looked around the abandoned room. There didn't appear to be any signs of a struggle.

"He isn't here." Lucas stated. "I'll talk to the Landlady."

"Ok." Ros crossed the room to the unmade bed. She was worried about the former spook. Henry had always been good to them. Always seemed to keep an eye on the team, whether they knew it or not. She sat down and leant forward, her hand slipping under the mattress. "Oh, Henry." She smirked as she pulled out what appeared to be a battered old notebook.

"What have you got?" Lucas turned to her as she opened the cover.

"Henry has left us a message." Ros held up the memory stick from inside the 'book'. "Old fool isn't losing the plot after all."

"Never thought he was." Lucas watched as she got to her feet. "Back to base?"

"Yeah. I want Malcolm working on this. Henry has bound to have encrypted it." Lucas nodded before ushering her out of the B&B. Something felt wrong. He just had no idea what.

###########################

Harry stared out over the city he had protected almost all his working life. The rain that had soaked the streets earlier had abated and left the promise of more to come later. He had no idea what he was going to say to Ruth. He knew he couldn't lie to her. He closed his eyes and rested his hands on the barrier that surrounded the edge of the roof.

"Harry?" Ruth stepped nearer to him.

"It was a long time ago."

"I know." She watched as he closed his eyes, lost in memories he had long tried to forget. "It doesn't matter what you say, I love you and I am not going anywhere."

"You might change your mind when I have told you." Harry avoided her gaze. "If I were you I'd take Gracie and Nick and run as far away from me as I could."

"Harry." Ruth's voice took on a warning tone. "Not a chance in Hell. You know that."

"I was sent to Belfast. Undercover. You know that."

"Yes." Ruth nodded.

"Jane hated me. We were on the brink of divorce. I knew all about her affairs and she knew about mine. Catherine was convinced I was going to disappear. Graham was beginning to get angry with the world. I should have stayed in London. I should have told Henry to send someone else."

"You were Section Chief."

"If I'd have stayed. Maybe just maybe I'd have been able to have the kids with me. Maybe Jane would have let us be, not rubbed my face in her affairs. At least I never did that. The kids, they never really knew. Not then."

"You met someone in Ireland?"

"No." Harry shook his head. He knew he was rambling. "No, I didn't meet anyone. Not like that."

Ruth raised an eyebrow. Somewhere in the pit of her stomach she was scared another Elena was going to crawl out of the past. Harry turned to face her. "What?"

"If I had stayed in London. If I had disobeyed a direct order maybe a bloody good officer would have lived. Maybe James Davies would have seen his kids grow up."

"Harry." Ruth interrupted. "What has this got to do with now? With Sunflower?"

"Terrance O Callaghan was convicted of his murder." Harry stated. "He was in the Maze prison until three days ago. He was having an affair with Jane. When he thought I was going to cause trouble he arranged for someone to kill me. I don't know who. I never found out."

"Oh Harry." Ruth felt the tears spring to her eyes. Harry touched her face, wiping one away with his thumb.

"She sold us out. I know she did but how I don't know. Sunflower was difficult. We were expecting trouble, the atmosphere in Belfast at that time was hostile to say the least. I argued against James coming out too."

"Why would any of this make me want to take the children and run?"

"Because." Harry held her gaze. "It should have been me. A man died by mistake. It should have been me." Ruth shook her head. "Ruth. I."

"Harry." Tariq appeared on the roof as the couple separated.

"Yes."

"Ros is on the way back in." Tariq had no idea what he had interrupted. Ruth rolled her eyes. "There's no sign of Henry. He's vanished."

"What?" Ruth narrowed her eyes. "How does a man of his age disappear?"

"This is Henry Parks we're talking about." Harry marched towards the entrance to the building wondering exactly what his former mentor was dragging them into this time.

###################

A/N please review. I hope you like this one.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer not mine.**

**Hide n Seek**

"This is absurd." Juliet snapped as she followed Beth and Alec through the corridors of Thames House. She was acutely aware of the looks she was receiving from various officers as they headed to the fifth floor.

"Is is?" Beth sighed. She was beginning to get tired of the woman. Juliet Shaw had been the ultimate spook in her time but now she was still recovering from a self inflicted brain injury that would have killed most people. Although she tried to sympathise Beth knew the woman was deliberately trying to be obstructive.

"Well. This all relates to something that happened when you were a child. What could you know about it?"

"For someone who states she blew away her own short term memory you seem reticent to do anything other than bitch about it." Beth watched as the older woman's eyes clouded over. "Operation Sunflower happened when I was a child, granted. But now I am a serving officer." She held Juliet's gaze. "And it's me and the rest of the team as it stands now that is going to have to try to clean up the mess left over from your day."

"Mess?"

Juliet stalked past Alec into the Grid as Dimitri jogged up to them.

"Hi."

"Hi." Beth smiled at her boyfriend. "Henry here?"

"Er." Dimitri glanced at Alec and Juliet. "Well."

"Where is he?" Alec frowned.

"That." Calum snapped as he looked up. "Is the million dollar question."

"Excuse me?" Juliet snapped as Harry left his office.

"Some might, I wont." He held her gaze. Suddenly it was like they had gone back in time twenty years, worried about where Henry Parks was and what mood he would be in when he returned to the Grid. "Juliet. My office. Now." He turned and walked back into the transparent room. Ruth kept her eyes firmly on the computer screen in front of her as Juliet did her best to stalk past her towards the office.

#############################

"He was here." Lucas jogged towards his wife. "The landlady says he was here last night."

"Ok, but where is he now?" Ros looked out over the street. The quiet back street B&B in the East End of London seemed to be the perfect hiding place. The small market that filled the street seemed the easiest place to get lost in if you wanted to. That and the presence of the pub seemed to make the area the perfect hiding place for the aging Geordie.

"No signs of forced entry. No signs of a struggle." Lucas frowned as he watched the same scene Ros was observing.

"An eighty odd year old man just doesn't vanish in to thin air."

"Not without good reason."

"Ruth is doing some digging." Ros began walking away. "We need to know if he is mentally fit. I know I am being ageist but I have to know I am not risking my team because of paranoia with no foundation." She looked back at him as she reached the car. Lucas nodded. He knew everyone would be thinking the same but he remembered the savvy and quick-witted pensioner that had helped him and Ruth escape when he had broken his ankle. It just didn't seem like Henry to wander off and get lost. "Back to the Grid." Ros continued, startling Lucas from his thoughts.

"Beth will have brought Juliet in by now."

"Oh today just gets better and better." Ros snapped as she slipped into the driving seat.

########################

"I've checked all the hospitals in Greater London." Ruth opened the door to Harry's office . Juliet rolled her eyes as Harry smiled slightly. "I've also checked all the homeless shelters."

"Homeless shelters?" Juliet snapped. "Why on Earth?"

"Covering all bases." Ruth kept her voice neutral. The last thing she wanted was to argue with the woman. Harry nodded as Ruth handed him a computer printout. "Calum is going through CCTV footage from outside his B&B. Tariq is searching police reports looking for descriptions of any bodies or any assaults that may match Henry's description."

"Is that really necessary?" Juliet huffed.

"Yes." Ruth glared at her. "It is."

"Thank you Ruth." Harry smiled slightly as Juliet rolled her eyes.

"So? Is he dead? Has the old fool got us on a wild goose chase when he's preparing to push up the daisies? Really. This is ridiculous."

"No." Ruth snapped. "No, as far as I can tell Henry Parks is alive. I can't find him in any of the Misper Lists or any of the hospitals in the local area. Ros and Lucas are on the way back in. Oh and yes, when a man that murdered an MI-5 officer in cold blood and left another officer for dead is released from the highest security prison in the UK and threatens a former Section Chief it is necessary."

"Are you going to let her talk to me like that?" Juliet snapped.

"Yes." Harry stated calmly. "Ruth, keep looking. Anything you can find on the whereabouts of Henry Parks and Terry O'Callaghan."

Ruth nodded once before leaving the room, relieved that Ros and Lucas would soon be back on the Grid.

"O Callaghan?" Juliet glared at Harry. "That excuse for skin? Terry?"

"Yes." Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, he was released twenty four hours ago."

"It's happening again." Juliet sank down on to the battered old red sofa in the corner of the office. "It's happening again."

"Not if I can help it." Harry stated firmly, knowing that he had to protect his team from the events of his past.

##########################

"C'mon girl." Graham jogged up to the front door with the small Jack Russel at his feet. "Those cats will think we've forgotten them." Scarlett barked once as her tail wagged furiously. He pushed the key in the lock knowing it was only a matter of hours before his step mum returned with Gracie and Nick headed home from school. Opening the door he froze. It was silent but the entire place felt wrong. Fidget and Muggles weren't in their usual place by the hall radiator. Scarlett growled as Graham picked up the heavy candlestick Ruth had bought on a whim less than a year ago.

"Ok." Graham nodded as the dog bared her teeth. Someone was in the house. Someone Scarlett didn't like. That was enough for Graham to think that whoever was behind the living room door was less than friendly. He raised the candlestick above his head and pushed the door open.

"Aye man!"

"Henry!" Graham immediately dropped the candlestick as Muggles curled up on the sofa next to Henry. "What? When? Does my Dad know?"

"Too much to explain, ten minutes ago and no he doesn't. Does that answer your question lad?"

"I could have killed you."

"Aye." Henry nodded. "You wouldn't have been the first to try that. Look, I need you to help me. I know your sister works for 6."

"No." Graham nodded. "No I am not getting dragged into that world. Not this time. I've a wedding to plan, a life. I am not getting involved in all that cloak and dagger, hide n seek stuff."

"Not even if it means making sure your dad is alive to be at your wedding?" Henry watched as the colour drained from his godson's face. He knew he was blackmailing the young man but he really didn't care. "Aye lad, before you say another word it is that serious." Graham nodded as the cat jumped off the sofa. Scarlett continued to regard the newcomer with disdain. She didn't like him at all. In that moment Graham could understand why.

"What do you need me to do?" Graham asked, knowing that there was no point in arguing.

################################

A/N Please review. I get the feeling this story isn't as good as my last one. Tempted to delete and start again.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer not mine. Thank you all for the encouragement with the last chapter.**

**Special Delivery?**

"Harry Pearce." Harry began pacing the office as Juliet looked on. He smirked as he listened to his oldest son.

"The parcel you were waiting for? It was hand delivered five minutes ago."

"Intact?" Harry avoided Juliet's gaze. "Why wasn't it at the prearranged address?"

"Yes, intact. You'll have to ask the courier."

"Oh I will. Thank you." Harry sighed. "Would you mind ensuring the parcel does not remain unattended until I can collect?"

"No worries Dad." Graham hung up the phone and sat opposite Henry. "Right, I am not a spook. I never will be a spook but you don't need to be head of MI-5 to see you are in trouble."

"Aye lad." Henry nodded. Not for the first time Graham wondered how his godfather had gone his entire adult life never being mistaken for a Santa lookalike.

"And is this trouble going to affect my family? Dad and Ruth? Cath and the kids? Because if it is I need to know." Graham stared at the elderly spook, knowing that the he would never know the whole story.

"Graham."

"Don't." Graham looked him in the eye. "Just don't try that one. I know all about the Act. And I also know that you have been in the service long enough to have a history that can come back to bite you."

"Aye lad." Henry nodded. "I'm not the only one. Your father."

"Has been an idiot over the years." Graham finished the sentence for him. "But whatever has happened Catherine, Charlie, Nick and Gracie don't deserve to be dragged into it. Ruth doesn't need anymore of Dad's past thrown in her face. I'm still amazed she stayed after all that crap with Elena."

"You know about that?"

"Yeah." Graham lied. He knew he barely had the facts, he didn't want to know.

"Ruth is an amazing woman."

"To take on Dad and us lot she has to be. You haven't answered the question." He narrowed his eyes as Henry sighed heavily.

"You are more like your father than you think."

"Talk." Graham leant forward. "What trouble is chasing you and is it going to descend on the people I love?"

########################

"Adam, Zafar." Harry called through the door as the assembled spooks looked up. "My office, now."

Zaf exchanged glances with Adam before pushing his chair away from his desk and following him into the office. Juliet folded her arms as she tried and failed to look down her nose at them.

"Harry?" Adam frowned as he realised the woman that had tried to kill Ros was sat in Harry's office.

"I want you to ensure the security of this woman. Under no circumstances is she to have access to anything more sensitive than the cleaners have access to." Harry ignored the contemptuous look from Juliet who balanced on one crutch in the corner of the office.

"Babysitting." Zaf pulled a face.

"Babysitting."

"I am here." Juliet snapped. Zaf pulled a face as Adam smirked.

"I am well aware of your location." Harry answered. "I have to go out for a while."

"Whitehall?" Adam asked, wondering if Ros was going to be taken from the Grid for the afternoon. It seemed having Juliet around was having an adverse affect on the rest of the team. He watched as Harry ignored the question before leaving his office calling out to Ros as he passed.

##############

"Why would Henry vanish into thin air?" Erin shoved her hands in her pockets as she walked along the pavement near Trafalgar Square. "I mean anything he has to hide from has to date back years. The protagonists must either be infirm."

"Or dead by now." Beth stated bluntly.

"Well, yes."

"Erin, don't be so ageist." She watched as an elderly woman walked towards the bench placing a shopping trolley on the ground in front of her.

"I thought we were meeting your asset." Erin watched as Beth nodded.

"Yeah, she's here." Beth sat on the bench next to the elderly woman who merely smiled at the two younger women.

"The sun is lovely today." The lady stated. "And you are both looking lovely."

"Glad the rain has stopped." Beth smiled as Erin looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

"Tradecraft." The elderly lady smiled. "You youngsters barely use the classics these days. Don't look like that, I was a spook long before either of you were thought of."

"Joan, this is Erin." Beth smiled. "My senior."

"Hello Erin. Joan Gough. Ask Henry Parks about me if you want to know my credentials." Joan replied. "Now, you called me about Operation Sunshine."

"Yeah. We need to know as much as possible about it."

"It was the 1990s. I was about to retire then." Joan replied. "I was seconded to Six, based in Northern Ireland."

"You were part of Sunflower?" Erin leant forward, suddenly more interested.

"I was 6's liaison. Juliet Shaw and Harry Pearce were stationed there with James and Terry. Juliet and Harry were supposed to be siblings. They needed a reason to be in Ireland. One the locals would accept. So, I was auntie. They stayed with me. I arranged with James half of their cover story. He was a good man. A real asset to the service and a genuinely nice guy. I remember the funeral. Awful time. His poor widow."

"What happened?" Erin asked.

"I don't know the details. Even an old bag like me doesn't have clearance that far up. But he was killed on duty. Someone sold us out." Joan looked down. Even after so many years it was clear the elderly woman was still upset by what had happened.

"Can you tell us anything?" Erin asked. "Who killed James?"

"Well, that's public record. Terry O'Callaghan was convicted and sentanced to life in the Maze. It wasn't just James he killed." Joan stared at the floor. "The man was an animal. A turncoat of the worst type. People died because he betrayed us. It's a minor miracle Harry wasn't killed."

"Harry?" Beth stared at her.

"Harry Pearce. He was Senior Case Officer - my counterpart in 5. A good man, he was part of Henry's team. I told you this."

"Harry is stil a good man. He's remarried, has two more children." Beth stated calmly as a smile lit up the old lady's face.

"He recovered? I left the service soon after this debacle. I never did know what became of him. I didn't have to attend court you see, they read out my statement." She shook her head. "Tring didn't think it would be good for my recovery."

"Tring?" Erin raised both eyebrows. Joan sighed and nodded once as a group of school children on a day trip hurried past.

"As I said, girl. It was the worst case I have ever worked on. James died as did three civilians and one of theirs. Carnage. All carnage and all because of that scum." She shook her head. "James had a four year old daughter, Helen and a baby on the way."

"Oh no." Beth rested her hand on the old woman's arm. Erin looked away, thinking of her own loss for a moment. Joan took a deep breath.

"I don't know why you are both so interested in Sunflower but believe me it is not a time any of us would like to see again. Look after Harry and Juliet. Whatever has happened in their lives they do not deserve to have this thrown back at them. If you see Henry tell him I send my love." She got to her feet and walked away, the wheels on her trolley catching on the paving stones as she went.

###############################

"Harry." Ros sat in the passenger seat of his 4x4 as he drove towards his house. "Are you certain about this?"

"Yes."

"You really think we can trust her?"

"Juliet? No. We've never been able to trust her." His voice remained steady as he tried not to think of what was going on back at the Grid. He knew Ruth hated having her there as much as Ros did. He also knew she would be driving Adam and Zaf up the wall.

"Then why?"

"Why is she back? I assure you it is temporary. Juliet Shaw is still a former officer and I will never understand why she kidnapped Lucas or tried to kill you a second time."

"Yalta."

"Yes maybe." Harry sighed. "She was always one to bear a grudge."

"She remembers. That bullet in her head was intended for me. If you hadn't turned up at that church, if Zoe and Zaf hadn't tackled her, she would have finished the job."

"You think she would have killed you?"

"Yes." Ros looked at him carefully. "And so do you. She tried to kill herself to evade the law. And now she claims she has no memory? She remembers more than she lets on. I grant you she obliterated her short term memory but she remembers more about her past than she wants us to know." Harry narrowed his eyes as he drove towards his home.

"If she does."

"Then she will be found out. You've left her with Adam and Zaf. Ruth wont let this go until she has all the answers."

"Neither will I." Harry stated, pulling the 4x4 into the drive. "Neither will I."

###########################

"Were you always this puerile?" Juliet perched against Alec's abandoned desk. Zaf raised an eyebrow. "I mean really?"

"Yes." Malcolm nodded. "They were."

"Malcolm?" Zaf laughed before heading across to Ruth's desk. "Anything Ruth?"

"Not really." Ruth rested her head on one hand. "I'm just having a little look in 6's files from the early 1990s."

"You're hacking!" Juliet snapped.

"Not having this conversation with you." Ruth spoke calmly. "And for the record I do not hack."

"No, she just has a little look around other organisation's systems." Zaf winked as Ruth tapped a few keys.

"Exactly." Ruth smiled as Zaf peered over her shoulder. "Oh we really need to get Harry and Ros back here." She bit her bottom lip.

"Yeah." Zaf nodded. "Adam? Dim? You need to see this." Zaf looked up as Dimitri and Tariq approached.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tariq pulled a face, aware Malcolm was ignoring what was going on around him. Ruth nodded.

"Yes I think it is."

"We better get the girls back too." Adam stated. "Zo? Can you get hold of them?" Zoe nodded while the others set about trying to locate Harry and Ros. Lucas picked up his phone, his eyes firmly on Juliet. He didn't trust her but knew Harry had been right to bring her in. Alec grabbed his car keys while Dimitri pulled his jacket.

"We'll bring them in. Someone tell Harry what Ruth found."

####################

Harry gingerly opened the back door of his house to see Muggles sat with Fidget on the kitchen table. Both cats looked as relaxed as ever. Ros raised an eyebrow as both cats studiously ignored her. There was a noise from the living room that caught Harry's attention.

"Harry?"

"Graham. It's me." Harry walked into the living room to see his son sat opposite the old man.

"Dad, you didn't have to break into your own house."

"Old habits son." Harry kept his voice level. "Henry, isn't it about time you told us what is going on?"

######################

A/N another long chapter - sorry! Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer** not mine**

**Plans?**

**May 1941.**

_"I don't like Hitler." Henry stated as his foster mother raised an eyebrow. They were sat in the Anderson shelter at the bottom of the garden with Margaret sleeping peacefully. _

_"I am glad to hear that. And I am sure Churchill himself will be."_

_"It's because of Hitler my Ma has to work in the Munitions Factory and can't have us home."_

_"You count yourself lucky my boy." The woman, barely old enough to marry stated. "Some children, younger than you were shipped off the Wales, to the country side."_

_"At least there they can climb trees." Henry sulked as they sat and waited for the 'all clear' to sound. "I really hate Hitler. He's a bully. His lot killed me Da and now me Ma has to work and I have to come here with a bairn that cries all hours off the day and night and I can't even climb a tree! I'm eight. I'm supposed to climb trees."_

_"If you say so lad. Is that your great plan in life? To climb a tree?"_

_"And stop bullies." Henry nodded solemnly. "I swear to you our Kate. I will climb the biggest tree in London. And after that. If I don't fall out the tree and brain meself I will get a good job. A really good job and stop people like Hitler."_

_"Henry." Kate sighed. "If wishes were horses. Anyway, I am pretty sure there is only one person on this Earth as bad as Hitler and Churchill and our Allies will take care of him."_

_"Bullies." He held her gaze. "That's what they are. And just because Hitler, the King and all the other good people stop him and his friends doesn't mean there wont be more. I'm going to make sure we can sleep in the night without having to run down to a shelter as bloody cold as this!"_

_"Henry Thomas Parks!" Kate laughed as he shrugged his shoulders. Sometimes she wondered what their Betty had landed her with._

_###################_

_May 1994_

_"Juliet, pipe down will you girl?" Henry glared at her as the young brunette folded her arms across her chest._

_"No, Sir. I will have my say."_

_"Don't you always?" Henry sighed as James and Henry bit back smiles that were threatening to form. Harry knew better than to get involved in a battle of wills with his Section Head and Senior Case Officer._

_"Well this is ludicrous. We know very little of what the Loyalists are proposing to do and even less about what the Republicans are going to get up to."_

_"Aye." Henry nodded. "Listen to me."_

_"No." Juliet snapped. "This is a suicide mission and I for one have no desire to die in the line of duty."_

_"Look." Henry sighed. "I see you don't agree but we have cast iron legends for you all. Harry, you leave on the next plane with Juliet. You are then Declan and Sioned. Brother and sister. You will be staying in Londonderry."_

_"Derry." Terry corrected him. "If Harry and Jules."_

_"Juliet."_

_"Are to fit in they should call it Derry."_

_"Whatever you call it you will meet your contact in 6. Joan Gough is an outstanding officer at 6. Don't piss her about Harry. She's a tad on the mature side for you anyway."_

_"Bugger off Henry." He narrowed his eyes as the older man laughed. Juliet's face burned scarlet._

_"Joan aka Skyrocket will meet you in the airport and escort you back to her home. A safe house. She will be known to you as Auntie Dot. Your mother's older sister. Your Mum and younger sibling Diane were killed in a bomb blast in 1978. You were brought up by your Da. Harry, Declan is a mechanic. You are to start work in Mickey's Motors tomorrow. Juliet, you are to start work in the cake shop in town."_

_"Cake shop!"_

_"Am I repeating myself? Either that or there is an echo in here. You have a plane to catch. Now bugger off the lot of you." Harry raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and following Terry and James out of the office, glad that James had already ushered the still furious Juliet out of the room._

_"Juliet." Harry spoke calmly, his voice low as they reached the corridor. "It will be ok. It won't be like last time we were over there."_

_"I know." Juliet hissed as Harry stepped back. "Last time we got out alive."_

_"Oh excuse me." Connie smiled slyly as the former couple broke apart. Juliet huffed and swore under her breath as she marched out of the Pods._

_########################_

May 2013

"Sit down lad." Henry looked up at harry as he and Ros walked into the living room. "Since when did you break into your own home?"

"Since you stopped waiting at the appointed place." Harry answered as he sat on the arm chair opposite. Ros watched the whole exchange in silence. Graham looked up at her knowing he would never be told what was going on.

"I was being watched."

"So? You come here. You come to my home and you believe you have a tail? What about Nick? Gracie? Graham and Catherine? Ruth? This isn't a damn game! You know what he is capapble of. You know first hand what that scum did to James."

"Who's James?" Grham got to his feet. "Not your James?"

"No." Ros stated. "You think the scum would still be breathing if either of my kids were hurt?"

"Fair point." Graham looked away. He knew a little of Ros' reputation and in that instant he could see how she earned it.

"No." Henry took his hat off and placed it on the coffee table. "I didn't bring my friends here with me. I ditched them in central London. Five minutes before Adam and young Zafar were due to pick me up."

Harry watched his former boss for a moment before his mobile sprang to life. He didn't need to look at the screen to see who was calling.

"Yes?" He sighed as he heard Ruth's voice on the other end of the line. He paused for a moment listening to her.

"I'm at the collection point, just waiting for this jumped up little idiot with delusions of graduer to answer my questions about the location of my delivery."

"Harry." Ruth sighed. "You found it then?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"You are needed." He paused as he let the words wash over her. "Here, we need you and Ros back here."

"I'll be along shortly."

"No, Harry." The tone in Ruth's voice changed. He knew she had found something significant. "You are to come in now."

"I understand." Harry got to his feet. "We're on our way."

"Ok, Alec and Dimitri are focusing on locating other lost souls." He frowned as he tried to make out what Ruth meant. He knew that Erin and Beth were out in the field and prayed they weren't in trouble. Both new girls were like magnets for it.

"Good to know." Harry hung up just as he heard Lucas and Juliet shout across the Grid.

"So, lad." Henry picked his hat up and got to his feet. "What's the plan?"

"The Grid." Harry snapped. "Now."

Ros smirked before pushing herself away from the wall. It was going to be a long day.

######################

A/N Please review. Next chapter lots of Harry and Ruth!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Game on?**

"Oh this is bordering on the ridiculous." Juliet snapped as the Pods whirred into life. The suit clad officers of Internal Affairs stormed onto the Grid followed by Fitzgerald. Lucas narrowed his eyes as he found himself agreeing with the slim brunette that had caused so much trouble. Ruth swore under her breath as she realised what was happening.

"Call Harry." Adam stated quietly. "Tell him that he can't bring Henry back here. Something is going on."

"I'd worked that out." Ruth picked up the phone. "It also looks like Dolby's replacement is as clueless as he was."

"What about the girls?" Lucas asked. "Erin and Beth are still out there."

"Alec should have found them by now. They can keep away. I'll deal with this Eton reject." Adam pushed himself away from the desk as Ruth pressed speed dial hoping Harry would be able to answer.

#############

May 1994

"Ah, Auntie Dot." Harry hugged the older woman as Juliet looked over the airport. "How are you?" Travellers and commuters milled around the airport looking for their bags and luggage.

"All the better for seeing you two." She hugged Juliet as the younger woman stiffened in her arms. "You Miss." She pulled back and appraised her 'niece' "Need a good meal inside you." Juliet was about to answer when she remembered her cover. She held her tongue and followed the others out of the terminal hoping that the others would be following them soon.

################

"Yes." Harry spoke calmly as he looked out of his kitchen window, trying to determine whether the house was being watched.

"We have visitors." Ruth sighed as Harry closed his eyes.

"Bring back Dolby, all is forgiven."

"I wouldn't go that far." Ruth paused. "I have to assume our visitors are being attentive. You have to return the parcel to the depot and stay with it until you get a refund." Ruth bit her lip, hoping that she was making some sense to her husband. A tall, thin man Ruth didn't recognise walked over to her.

"Lady Pearce." He stared at her. Ruth narrowed her eyes.

"It's my husband that has the title. Not me. I didn't earn it." Ruth ended the call quickly but left the line open so that Harry could hear what was being said. She could practically feel him smirking. "Mrs Pearce will do."

"Mrs Pearce." The blonde man seemed flustered, Ruth was glad. "Where is your husband at the moment?"

"I have no idea but if I was you I'd try Number 10 Downing Street or failing that Whitehall." She pushed her chair away from the desk as Malcolm raised his voice.

"This is absolutely intolerable. You haven't even told us why you are commandeering our files and equipment." Malcolm pushed his chair back from his work station. "I am leaving. Adam please contact me when our department is free of these thugs."

"Malcolm." Adam raised an eyebrow.

"No. I am part-time and semi retired." Malcolm stated. "I will not tolerate another witch hunt. I will not put my own self respect and professionalism on the line by working under these conditions." He slipped the memory stick into his sleeve as he spoke. Ruth smiled slightly, seeing what he was doing. Another officer stood in his way.

"Let him pass." Lucas stood to his full height.

"No one is to leave the Grid." The officer replied. "Not until Sir Harry is here with Sir Fitzgerald. There has been allegations made."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Zoe snapped. "Malcolm wants to go home. I suggest you let him leave."

"I am under orders."

"That's what they said at Nuremberg." Malcolm narrowed his eyes. Tariq and Calum got to their feet. Calum glaring as the younger officer caved.

"Ok, ok. I suppose I can't hold you here against your will."

"No you most certainly cannot." Malcolm huffed before storming towards the Pods. "Good day!" Adam smiled as he watched the Senior Technical Officer leave the Grid. Ruth picked up her phone and dialled.

"What are you doing?" Fitzgerald marched over to her.

"Don't you raise your voice to her. I suggest we take this into Harry's office." Adam snapped. Fitzgerald narrowed his eyes as Adam held his gaze. Ruth shook her head.

"Iy's ok Adam. I was arranging child-care. I have a teenager that is due to be home from school in the next hour and a seven month old daughter to collect in the next hour and half. Clearly I am not going to be able to do that and while you may be negligent in your actions I am not in mine as a mother. I don't think it would look good to the DG if two children were left to fend for themselves because of your incompetance."

"Well really." Fitzgerald was about to snap as Adam stepped between them. "Make the call, Ruth. Anyone else needing to arrange child-care please do so now." He glanced at Zoe and Calum. He hoped Calum took the hint and called Catherine. He needed to know what was going on with his counterpart in 6. Adam nodded towards Harry's office and followed the grey suited man.

#################

"We can't return to the Grid with him." Harry nodded towards Henry who merely scratched his whiskers.

"What's going on?" Ros asked. She knew he had spoken to Ruth. Graham looked from his father to his Godfather and sighed.

"Tell her, you know I can keep a secret. It's practically genetic in this family."

"The vultures are circling. Fitzgerald wants my blood. Erin and Beth seem to have gone to ground and Ruth strongly suggests we do the same."

"I can handle Fitzgerald." Ros stated. "He is just a Dolby wannabe and looked what happened there."

"Do I want to know?" Graham asked. Harry shook his head and smiled. "I'll just go and feed the cats and Scarlet then." He stepped away.

"Talk to me." Ros narrowed her eyes. "I can handle that idiot on the Grid if I am up to speed."

"You wont like it." Henry sighed.

"I had a feeling you would say that." Harry pointed at the walls before putting his finger to his lips. Ros nodded, aware that walls very often really did have ears. Henry shook his head, aware that Harry thought his house may have been bugged. Seconds later they were bundling the old spook out of the house towards Harry's car a few feet away. As Harry pushed his foot onto the accelerator Ros turned to the old man, now sat in the back of the car next to Graham and Scarlet. The small dog curled up and essentially ignored the humans.

"Graham, I'll drop you at the cafe in Regents Street." Harry lied as he pulled the car to a halt three foot away from Calum and Catherine's flat.

"Ok Dad." Harry nodded as Graham got out the car and jogged towards the building. Harry just prayed his older children were safe. He worried enough about them. Ros turned to Henry.

"Ok, what is it we aren't going to like?"

"Hen, it goes back to 1994. You weren't even a spook then."

"So? You weren't a pensioner. Talk to us. I am getting sick of this."

"Ok, Ok."

######################

"They made it then." Connie marched into Henry's office and dumped a file full of transcripts on his desk. "Juliet and the others."

"So it would seem." Henry ignored the pile of paperwork. Connie smirked before turning and walking to the office door.

"Constance?"

"Yes." Connie sighed. Only her father had called her by her full name.

"I should have asked you earlier but with the others around it didn't seem right." Henry held her gaze.

"What?"

"Operation Renaisannce. Are you ok? I know you were there for a while but I need to read your report. You are the only one that hasn't handed in the relevent paperwork."

"It's there." She nodded to the files on the edge of his desk. "It's all there." She was out of the office before Henry could reply.

#######

"Ruth." Harry spoke quietly as Ruth nearly jumped out of her skin. "Are you ok?"

"What? How?"

"Stan." Harry smiled. "Ros is safe. She's waiting with Henry in a safe house. Can you let Lucas know?"

"Of course." Ruth smiled as he touched her hand. "Harry, what's going on?"

"I'm still trying to work that one out." Harry admitted. "I know it has to do with Henry and James' murder. Terry O'Callaghan was released from the Maze three days ago and now Infernal Affairs are crawling over the Grid."

"A set up?" Ruth frowned as her eyes clouded with worry. She knew what could happen if the DG really believed Section D was rotten. "Harry."

"Maybe." Harry stepped closer to her, aware that hiding in Stan's tiny ofice at the front of Thames House was not ideal. "What did you tell them?"

"I had to give my front door key to the babysitter." Ruth closed her eyes as he brushed a strand of brown hair away from her face. "What's going on?"

"I'm going to have to go dark for a while." He whispered before kissing her on the cheek. Ruth turned her head and caught his lips with her own. Harry smiled as he pulled back.

"Be careful."

"Ruth, when all this is over."

"I'll still be here, whatever this is." She smiled at him. Harry closed his eyes.

"You may find out you don't like the man you married. The man I was."

"When you were married to Jane?" Ruth raised an eyebrow. "You're aren't the same man you were then."

"No." Harry agreed. "I hope I'm not. I hope I'm not such a coward." Ruth frowned as he slipped out of the office. She shook her head, more determined than ever to find out what it was about the release of a terrorist and a twenty year old op had to do with Internal Affairs and Section D now.

#####################

A/N please review.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Surprise Encounters.**

Malcolm walked down the street, ignoring the sunshine that scorched the pavement. It seemed ridiculous that London could be baking in heat of 30'C when people paid to go on holidays abroad. He pushed open the door of the small internet cafe hoping that the team back at the Grid were coping with the invasion.

"Malcolm?" He turned to see Catherine sat at a computer. Charlie was sat at her side colouring while Gracie slept in her pushchair.

"Catherine." He sat opposite her. "What are you doing here?"

"Work was a little stiffling. Dad called." She raised an eyebrow. Not for the first time he was reminded how much like Harry Catherine really was. "Asked me to pick Squeak up."

"Ah I see." Malcolm sighed. Charlie looked up and smiled.

"What's going on? Why has Dad gone dark?"

"I."

"Where's Grumpy?" Charlie asked as Malcolm smiled.

"Grandpa." Catherine closed her eyes for a moment as her son just stared at her. "You mean where's Grandpa?"

"No I didn't." Charlie turned back to his colouring book as Catherine sighed.

"It's big. I know that. Our department has been subjected to an impromptu investigation." Catherine held Malcolm's gaze. "No one is telling us anything."

"Same with us." Malcolm sighed. "The Grid is in lockdown, which is why you have been left with babysitting duties."

"I guessed so." Catherine paused. "So, how come you're out?"

"I have my ways." Malcolm smiled. "I need to decode this. I managed to download it before our visitors arrived." He pulled the small memory stick from behind his watch strap. Catherine shook her head as she loaded up the computer in front of her.

"Uncle Malcolm." She shook her head. "It just so happens my friend Zack runs this place. He wont charge us for using the system and he knows Calum so he knows how to be discreet."

"Us geeks stick together." Malcolm stated before turning his attention back to the screen. Catherine looked over his shoulder.

"Oh Dad." She bit her lip as the images came into view. "Oh my God, Dad."

##################################

_June 1994_

_"Declan." Harry turned as a distinct Belfast accent caught his attention. "You settling in well?"_

_"Yeah, thanks." Harry turned his attention back to the engine he had been working on. The small fiesta didn't appear that complicated. It was only there for an oil change, Harry assumed he could manage that without blowing his cover._

_"How's your sister?"_

_"A pain in the backside." Harry stated sharply before turning to see the two men still watching him. "She's fine. She's gone out with Auntie Dot for the day. Shopping."_

_"Oh." The thin man smirked. "Women and shopping. You be lucky to see them before the morning. Why don't you come down the pub? Meet some of the lads?"_

_"Yeah. I might." Harry turned to the car. "I don't want any trouble. Had enough of that before I got here. Don't need any more."_

_"Trouble? Dot said you'd had a rough time in London. Beats me why you would want to be there."_

_"Work. You go where the work is." Harry explained. "Now the work is here I'm here." He slammed the bonnet shut and marched back into the garage leaving both men wondering what he was talking about. Harry knew he had raised their_ _curiosity enough to raise their interest. It seemed he now had an 'in' with the McCarthy brothers. How well that was going to work out he could only guess._

#####################

June 2013

"Henry." Ros glared at him as she sat across the table. The safe house was covered in dust and she hated it. The small flat at the top of the building had all the charm of a Russian prison cell. She closed her eyes for a moment and pushed all thoughts of Lucas and their children to the back of her mind. "What you said in the car?"

"Was true."

"Then why didn't you act on it? You were the Section Head. You left Harry and that woman out to dry."

"That woman is called Juliet Shaw."

"I know her name." Ros pushed the chair back from the table with an audible scrape across the floor. She walked across to the window and looked out, aware that they were so high up there was very little chance of them being watched.

"What did that girl ever do to you? I can understand Ruth not liking the girl after her history with Harry."

"True." Ros turned. "But Ruth isn't like that. I'll tell you why Juliet and I are not exactly best friends."

"Why?"

"She tried to kill me. A needle in the neck the first time, only Adam and Harry managed to switch the toxin. Then she kidnaps my husband, threatens my daughter and tries to blow my brains out. When that failed she turned the gun on herself but missed. That's why she was in rehab for so long." Ros looked at him as the colour physically drained from the old man's face.

"I had no idea."

"You weren't supposed to." Ros sat back down at the table.

"Aye well." Henry ran a hand over his messy beared. "There's quite a bit of stuff I know that I'm not supposed to."

"Like what happened to Harry and Juliet in Belfast? The McCarthy brothers."

"Aye, lass. It's stuff like that I wish I didn't know."

##############################

"Why are you even here?" Adam leant back against Harry's abandoned desk, aware that the older man was far too smug for his own good.

"There has been an allegation made."

"Such as?"

"Such as the type I will not disclose to a field officer. Where are your Section Chief and Section Head?"

"Working in the field." Adam stated. He watched as the thin, grey haired man smirked. "I have the same level of clearance as Ros Myers." Adam lied easily. He glanced up to see Lucas watching him through the glass. Ruth had her head bowed to the computer screen. For a moment Adam worried about her, she had been quiet since she had returned from handing her keys to Catherine. He knew that was a lie but had been relieved that Fitzgerald hadn't seen fit to question them.

"On what?"

"You don't have the clearance." Adam smirked. "I cannot comment on an on-going investigation. And I wont."

"You do realise I can decommission you for obstruction?"

"Yeah." Adam folded his arms. "But you can't decommision a whole section. That wouldn't look good in the papers and I have some very loyal friends in the newspaper trade."

"You wouldn't!"

"Me? No." Adam held his gaze. "Of course I wouldn't dare break the Act but an anonymous source just might." Fitzgerald glared at him before turning and heading out of the office. Adam watched him go as Zoe got up from her seat and walked into the office.

"Why are they here?"

"Not sure." Adam stated truthfully. "But I hope Ruth can do some digging."

"Is Harry in trouble?" Zoe turned and followed him as he headed towards Ruth's desk. Tariq stepped past one of Fitzzgerald's goons and swore.

"I cannot believe you moved my stuff!" Tariq yelled. "You have no right to touch my stuff."

"Calm down." Calum stated.

"NO!" Tariq snapped. "I wont calm down. This is my workspace. I spend more time here than I do with my family. This place is the reason I broke up with Laura. DO NOT TOUCH MY STUFF!" Ruth pushed her chair back as the baby of the team stormed off the Grid. She glared at Fitzgerald.

"He isn't well."

"He is guilty of misconduct."

"Oh for God's sake listen to yourself." Lucas spoke for the first time. His claustrophobia begining to suffocate him. "Tariq gets like that when he drops his BM. He has Insulin Dependant Diabetes. You've kept us all here so long he hasn't been able to get anything to eat. Irritation is the first sign of the BM going down."

"Then shakes, extreme thirst, sweating."

"He was a bit sweaty." Zaf frowned.

"Then collapse, coma and death." Adam stated. "Now that wouldn't look good in the paper. Preventing a sick man getting his medication? Corporate manslaughter springs to mind. Ruth? Can you check on Tariq please."

"Of course." She made her way out of the Grid with a bottle of Lucozade in one hand. Fitzgerald snapped his fingers as he walked towards the Pods.

"You haven't heard the end of this, Carter." He turned as Adam stood next to Lucas.

"Neither have you." Adam replied.

"Tell Harry I want him in my office the moment he returns." Adam turned away as the various goons left the Grid. Leaning over Calum he stared at the screen.

"Ok, so what have Malcolm and Tariq found?" Calum smirked before turning the screen so Adam could read what was there.

"Nice one." Adam smiled. "All we have to do now is find him."

############################

"How long have you known Joan?" Erin asked as she walked alongside Beth and Alec. Dimitri shoved his hands in his pockets as he listened.

"Years." Beth smiled. "She was one of the best in her time. Gave us a few lectures when I was in basic training. She knows her stuff. Don't let the shopping trolley and cardigans fool you. She's a wily old bird."

"Joan Gough." Alec shook his head. "Who'd have thought that name would pop up again."

"You know her?" Beth raised both eyebrows.

"Know her? Yeah. If it wasn't for Skyrocket we'd have lost at least three officers when Harry was in Belfast. Thanks to her it was only one. Mind you, Harry walked with a limp for a while." He opened the car door and smirked, knowing the others were desperate to know what he was talking about.

######################

The West End of London was not Harry's favourite place. The tourists and traffic had always grated on his nerves. It was days like today that he missed Yorkshire and the wide open spaces. He made a mental note to take Ruth and the children there for a holiday. He didn't even think about the possibility he would be killed before he could do so. He ducked into an alleyway behind a theatre as the matinee performance came to an end. The sound of the audience clapping and cheering while the orchestra finished the final piece of music drowned out any noise he could make. He hide behind a large green bin as his contact came into view.

"Declan."

"It's been a long time." Harry watched him cooly.

"How's your Auntie Dot?"

"I didn't call you here for small talk." Harry watched as the other man narrowed his eyes. It was clear the years had not been so kind to the Irish man. "I know Terry O'Callaghan is walking around a free man."

"He got out the Maze? Wonders will never cease." The Irishman shook his head.

"You know he did. You know where he is." Harry remained in the shadows. "You know what he's planning next."

"I can tell you one thing."

"Patrick." Harry held his gaze.

"It's not revenge." Patrick stared at him. "If it was, I'm sure I'd be dead now. No, he doesn't want revenge. He killed your mate and left you for dead."

"I remember." Harry stated coolly.

"He wants to finish what he started. Isn't there another trade conference soon? I'd be more worried about that if I were you. Almost twenty years later and history is about to repeat itself." Patrick turned and walked away leaving Harry to wonder exactly how he was going to stop a terrorist a second time.

##############################

A/N more soon. Please review.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Watching the watchers**

Ruth slipped out of the Grid and headed towards the Gents bathroom. She knew Tariq would have hidden in there, she also knew it was very unlikely he was having a hypo. She had seen him eat earlier and knew he had taken his medication.

"Tariq?" She pushed the door open, hoping that no one else was in there.

"It's ok." Tariq smiled at her as he walked around flushing toilets and turning on taps.

"What did you find?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to get you off the Grid. Fitzgerald is panicking because he knows we're on to him. Or at least he thinks he does."

"Excuse me?"

"The Grid has been bugged." Tariq explained. "I found one in the kitchenette when I went out there. That's why I kicked off."

"Oh God." Ruth leant against the tap and handed him the pop she had brought with her. "Are you sure you don't need that?"

"Positive. My BM is 7.9mmol. Good for me." He smiled "Anyway. I destroyed the one I found but I bet there is more than. Malcolm and Calum do a regular sweep of the place. None were there on Thursday when Calum checked."

"Right, so Fitzgerald had to have them put there." Ruth raised an eyebrow. "He's probably the most powerful in MI 5 after the DG."

"So what is he doing having Section D turned over? Why now?" Tariq asked as Ruth bit her bottom lip. She glanced towards the taps, checking they were still running at full speed.

"I think he wants to stop us finding out what really happened all those years ago." Ruth sighed. "Remember Tariq, you were a child when all this happened. Harry was serving in Northern Ireland at the time this man murdered an MI 5 officer."

"Terry O'Callaghan." Tariq nodded. "It's the bloke Henry is so scared of."

"And I think I know why." Ruth sighed. "Look, come back onto the Grid. I've got to talk to Adam and get a message to Ros and Harry." She slipped out the bathroom door just as Calum arrived.

"I am not going to ask." Calum smirked as he watched Ruth leave the bathroom. Tariq shook his head and ushered the new boy out of the bathroom and back towards the Grid.

##################

June 1994

"You decided to join us then?" Aiden MCCarthy smiled as Harry walked into the pub. Harry nodded and sat on the bar stool next to him.

"Yeah."

"So? How's your wee sister settling in?"

"Haven't seen her all day." Harry lied. He knew exactly where Juliet was. "Once she hits the shops thats it. Belfast won't know what's hit it."

"Women eh?" Aiden laughed. "My brother has the same trouble with his wife. You'll meet our Christian in a bit. He's on a job at the moment."

"Job?" Harry asked, trying not to sound too interested. "Where does he work?"

"Out of Derry." Aiden started. "Might have a bit of work for you, play your cards right."

"Yeah." Harry smiled. "I'm always on the look out for a bit of work."

"Cash in hand."

"Even better." Harry smirked.

"Declan, my friend. I think you could be very useful." Harry picked up his pint and watched as a tall, muscular man walked into the bar.

"Aid."

"Alright. This is Declan. My mate at the garage." Aiden explained. "He's been telling me about his time over in London."

"What were you doing over there?"

"Trying not to get arrested." Harry stated calmly. "You know how it is."

"That I do. You good with cars?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Wouldn't be a mechanic if I weren't." He kept his eyes on his pint, aware that he was being sized up. He knew Christian McCarthy as the one that would pull the strings. If he was to find out when the trade conference was to be attacked he had to get Christian on his side. Christian laughed and signalled to the barman to get him a drink.

"Very true." Christian laughed. "Come on, let's sit down. I reckon you and me need to have a little talk."

#########################

June 2013

"Adam." Ruth stated as she headed towards Harry's abandoned office. Adam raised an eyebrow, aware that something had unsettled Ruth. He had no idea what but he knew better than to argue with the analyst. Zaf raised an eyebrow as he watched them head into the office.

"What is it?" Adam closed the door behind him. "Ruth? Is Tariq ok?"

"Yes. He's fine." Ruth began pacing the office. She glanced up at the lightfitting above Harry's desk and waited for him to understand what she was trying to tell him. Adam followed her gaze.

"But why?"

"That's what I want to know." Ruth slid a hand along the edge of Harry's desk, letting her fingers slip under the solid oak.

"Bloody Hell." Adam stared at her as she pulled a small grey disk out of the desk.

"Exactly." Ruth dropped the bug in the whiskey bottle at the back of the office, knowing the alcohol would destroy the bug and any data it had collected. "That wont be the only one. Adam, Fitzgerald had these planted. I'd bet my house on it. He worked with Harry just before he and Juliet were sent to Belfast."

"But why?"

"Terry O Callaghan never pleaded guilty to killing James. What if he didn't? What if he was innocent and was set up?"

"The trade conference was going to be bombed. Harry and the team stopped that."

"Didn't stop the bomb going off." Ruth started pacing, her mind already running through the different scenarios. "James died in the explosion along with three civilians and one terrorist suspect - Aiden McCarthy. His brother went to the Maze with Terry. Both were given twenty year sentances."

"Christian McCarthy was released in 1998 under the Good Friday Agreement."

"Which went down like a tonne of lead." Ruth looked up. "What if Fitzgerald was involved? What if O Callaghan was the fall guy? That's why he wants revenge. What if he blames Harry and Henry for setting him up?"

"Again, possible." Adam folded his arms as Ruth stopped pacing. "There's only one thing we can do."

"Such as?"

"Lock the Grid and sweep it for any bugs. If you are right then we have to make sure Fitzgerald isn't gaining any intel we don't want him to." Ruth nodded before walking out on to the Grid. Tariq was already disarming security cameras and Calum began taking his work area apart.

"Right." Adam called across the chaos. "You can guess what's happened. No talking, no email, text. Not until we know. Beth, Zoe take the Briefing Room apart. Ruth, Zaf take Harry's office. Everyone else rip this place apart. Nothing to be left untouched." Adam walked accross to his own desk and began searching it for any listening device that may have been planted there. Adam shook his head as he found two bugs. Swearing under his breath he put them in the whiskey bottle with the ones Zoe and Ruth found. Part of him wished Harry and Ros were there to deal with everything but he knew there was no way he could contact either of them to call them back in.

######################

A/N more soon x


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Talk**

"Henry." Ros sat opposite the older man and stared at him. He found it almost impossible to look away from her. Ros' eyes bored into his as he glanced away for a second. "It's time you told me exactly what happened in Belfast."

"You'd have to ask Harry about what really happened. I can only tell you what is in the official report."

"Don't bullshit me, Henry." Ros spoke calmly. "You were Section Head. You know exactly what went on. Juliet and Harry were sent to Belfast. Terry O Callaghan and James Davies followed them out there. Only James died in the explosion outside the trade conference. Henry, we have been tasked with providing security at the trade conference next month. Is history going to repeat itself? Is Terry O Callaghan going to try to finish what he started?"

"You know?" Henry paused. "It always amazed me, because my section were as thick as thieves. All so close you could never imagine one betraying another. Ok, Constance had a bit of a sharp tongue." He smirked as he saw Ros raise an eyebrow. "But I believed she had a good heart. It was difficult for her, to be stuck on the Grid while all the others were in the field."

"And Terry?"

"Liked the ladies. He was a cheeky sod but good at his job. Him, James and Harry were good mates. Juliet was always a little stand offish but she was good at her job. Aye, lass. What she did to you."

"Is irrelevant now." Ros pushed the memory of the needle against her skin out of her mind. It was not the time.

"I was still in London. As was Constance." Henry started. "The first I knew something was wrong was when Juliet called me the day of the explosion. It was about to be the lead story on the news. Both in Ireland and here." The elderly Geordie frowned. "Harry was in hospital. James was dead and Terry was missing."

"Was Juliet hurt?"

"Cuts and bruises. Harry had thrown her out of the way of the blast. People died. I would say all good people but one was Aiden McCarthy. He was not a good man."

"Who was he?"

"Harry's contact at the garage. He worked at the garage Harry was placed in over there. Son of a former policeman. Organised thugs really. Not one of them knew what the ideology behind the Troubles. All they knew was violence and aggression. They had no wish to separate Ireland from the UK or to join the island to the UK. They just knew bombs and violence. Christian McCarthy had a criminal record as long as Zaf's list of dream cars."

"That long?" Ros smirked, wondering what Zaf and the others were getting up to.

###########################

"What I don't understand is why?" Beth stood on a chair as she checked the light fitting outside the kitchenette. "Why would Fitzgerald want to spy on us for?"

"Because he's a spy?" Dimitri sighed as he stamped on one of the bugs.

"Don't do that." Calum snapped. "I want to take one apart and see if it's more high tech than ours."

"What I want to do is work out why Fitzgerald is involved in this." Adam stated as he looked around the Grid. Lucas pushed his chair back as he found another listening device.

"This is pathetic."

"I may be able to help with the reason behind Fitzgerald's interest in us." Ruth paused. Suddenly all eyes were on her. She silently wished Harry was there with her. "In 1994 Harry and Juliet were in Belfast. Well so was Joseph Fizgerald. According to the records from Grovsner Square he was on secondment to 6."

"What was he doing in Belfast?"

"That's it. The records are sealed. I just can't get into them."

"Do you want me to try?" Tariq asked as Ruth shook her head.

"No, I asked Malcolm to download them. He took them with him." Juliet sighed heavily before pushing herself to her feet with her crutches.

"Let me save you some time." She snapped. Alec smirked slightly. "He was in Belfast, part of an operation 6 were running. They were trying to prevent arms coming from the mainland to Ireland. Trying to stop the terrorist groups over there from getting any extra weapons."

"So nothing to do with what you and Harry were doing there." Beth stated. Juliet nodded.

"And our paths never should have crossed. But they did."

"How?" Ruth folded her arms as Juliet closed her eyes. It seemed the memories of twenty years earlier still haunted her.

#############################

June 1994

"Another?" Aiden asked, shaking his glass towards Harry and Christian. Harry nodded.

"My round I think." He got up and headed towards the bar, needing to get away from the brothers for a few moments. He signalled to the barmaid who smiled before heading across to him.

"And another one for me." Harry spun round as he heard Terry's voice.

"When did you get here?"

"Ah, Dec. Is that any way to greet an old mate?" He lifted up the pint glass as Juliet walked in to the bar.

"I told him where you were. Auntie Dot says she doesn't expect you for tea." She smiled as Aiden looked up, clearly distracted by a woman joining them. "Terry here has left Jimmy with Auntie Dot." Juliet continued, her voice trailing off as she realised they were bring watched.

"Ok." Harry smiled. "The usual?"

"Oh you know me." Juliet waved her hand just as she spotted the man in a black leather jacket the other side of the bar. "What is he doing here?"

"Having a drink?" Aiden asked innocently. "C'mon, sit down and tell us all about our Declan here." Harry raised an eyebrow, hoping Juliet wouldn't say anything to the two men. "Listen, is that man bothering you? Do you want me to sort him out for you love? Any friend of Dec's."

"Firstly." Juliet narrowed her eyes. "I am not your love. Secondly. I am Declan's sister. Thirdly, I can take care of myself." She walked over to the man Harry had recognised as FItzgerald.

"Your sister's a wee firecracker." Christian stated. "So she is."

"Trust me." Harry answered honestly. "You don't know the half of it. Didn't you say you had a bit of work you might be able to send my way?"

###################################

June 2013

"Anyway, I found out Fitzgerald was in the bar to meet a women. His presence was not exactly helping our op so I asked him to go."

"You asked him to go?" Alec smirked.

"Yes, well. I may have suggested if he didn't go away in short order I would blow his cover. My Irish accent was much more authentic than his. It would be relatively easy for me to do. Anyway, he made a pass at me."

"He did what?" Alec raised an eyebrow.

"Oh stop it." Juliet huffed. "All that alpha male nonsense doesn't wash with me."

"What was the problem?" Ruth asked. "He was too single for you."

"Meow." Juliet huffed as she looked away. "Anyway, as I said it turned out he was in the bar to meet a woman. His wife back in Essex knew nothing of his little habit of extra curricular activities."

"And?" Alec asked. Adam and Zaf turned away, deep in conversation as Juliet pulled herself to her full height.

"He was there to meet Aiofe McCarthy. Aiden and Christian's sister."

"Divided loyalties." Ruth sighed. "Could be a motive."

"But what does that have to do with Harry, Terry O Callaghan and the trade conference in London next week?" Dimitri asked.

"Revenge?" Juliet stated. "I think it has to do with revenge."

"I don't." Ruth spoke up sounding more confident than she felt. "I think Fitzgerald may have set out to silence us incase his involvement came to light. I don't think Terry O Callaghan was working alone. Infact I think he may be as much a victim in all this as James and Harry were."

"He delivered the bomb. He made sure James was there." Juliet kept her voice dangerously low.

"I know." Ruth nodded. "I'm not saying he was innocent. Four people died because of his betrayal. I'm just saying, I don't think he was the only guilty party. But it was him that got sent to jail."

"You think Fitzgerald is involved?" Zaf turned as he and Adam finished their conversation.

"I'd bet my house on it." Ruth began pacing. "And I think Terry is out for revenge. He took the fall. Now I think he wants to take Fitzgerald with him."

#########################################

Harry stared and watched as Patrick walked away from him. He knew that his old informant had always given him reliable information. It was what he did now that could make the difference. He waited a few minutes before following him, hoping that he would be able to get the information to Ros before it was too late.

#########################

"Lucas." Adam stated. "Go to the safe house where Ros and Henry are. Check they are ok. Zaf, I want you and Erin to head over to the hotel where the trade conference is being held."

"Ok." Erin stood up and picked her black leather jacket from the back of her chair. "What about everyone else?"

"Alec, babysit her."

"Well really." Juliet huffed. "Beth, Zoe dig out everything and anything you can about Fitzgerald. Ruth?"

"I'll dig into Aiofe McCarthy's past. See what happened to her once the bomb went off." Ruth stepped back to her work station. The rest of the officers went off to start the tasks Adam had handed given them. Ruth couldn't help but wonder where Harry was. Whether he was safe and when she would see him again. Sighing heavily she returned to her data search. An hour past before she realised she was on her own on the Grid. "Oh great." Ruth leant back in her chair. The data search finally found something useful. She grabbed her phone, frantically dialling Adam and then Lucas. When neither answered she tried Zaf. In desperation she tried Harry's number, not surprised when she got his answer phone. Smiling slightly she listened to his message, but knew better than to leave a message. Anything that could tie him to the security services could be fatal should he be caught. Ruth bit her lip for a moment before deciding what to do. Seconds later she eased the memory stick behind the strap of her watch and left the Grid.

###########################

"Well, that was a waste of time and energy. "Lucas stated as he jogged back on to the Grid. The gentle humming of the overhead lighting hummed. "Where's Tariq?"

"No idea mate." Zaf looked around, before picking up a note stating Tariq had gone to the Registry. "He's ok. Where's Ruth? It's her I'm more worried about." He walked across to her workstation as something on the computer looped. "Lucas? They've got her." He stated as his eyes stayed fixed to the image of Ruth being dragged into a car played out on the computer screen.

"What?" Lucas was at his side in seconds. The image replayed, seemingly on a loop. "Oh God. We have to get hold of Harry and the others. If that is Terry O' Callaghan and Christian McCarthy that bundled her into that van we have serious problems."

"Ruth is missing." Zaf picked up the phone and dialled Ros' number. "I don't want to think about what could happen if we don't find her."

#####################################

A/N What had Ruth found? Who has taken her? Will Ruth's abduction force Harry out of deep cover? Reviews are dropping for this story - is it worth going on?


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer I do not own Spooks. Oh just wanted to say that I know exactly when the Berlin Wall was taken down. I was wondering when that was going to be picked up on. It was intended to be a sarcastic comment from Juliet Shaw to Harry Pearce suggesting he was 'behind the times.**

**Bad Memories**

Ruth struggled against the much larger man as he threw her, kicking and biting into the back of the blue transit van in the corner of the Thames House car park. She felt sick as she thought of one of Fitzgerald's men waiting for her to leave the Grid. Laying on the cold, metal floor of the van she tried not to think about how she had been taken to use against Harry. She had a feeling she was bait rather than the intended catch. Too angry to be frightened she closed her eyes and pretended to fall unconscious.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You never mentioned any of this." Alec stated as he watched Juliet. She rolled her eyes as he drove towards a safe house in Clapham.

"I didn't think it would be relevant." Juliet snapped before staring out of the car window. "At the risk o f sounding like an impatient three year old. Are we nearly there yet?"

"No." Alec stated. "And why was it not relevant?"

"I didn't know you then. I was seeing Mike in 6. "

"But you were ok? Looking at Henry's report you were injured."

"I was." Juliet agreed. "Harry more so. If it wasn't for him I would have been killed." She kept her eyes on the road. "I don't remember details. But I woke up in a blue van. A transit I assume. There are holes in my memory."

Alec paused as they reached red traffic lights. He watched her for a moment, believing for a moment he had a glimpse of the Juliet Harry would have known so many years earlier.

########################

June 1941

Henry looked up at the star lit sky and frowned. He wasn't tired, despite how late it was. He wondered if he should even bother going to sleep again - not when the Luftwaffe wanted to make sure he never slept a night in his own bed.

"Penny for them." He turned as he saw Kate in the doorway of the kitchen. "What are you doing out here?"

"Couldn't sleep." He explained, knowing Margaret was sleeping peacefully. "My Da was killed by them. By the Nazi army."

"Yes, my love." Kate sighed..

"It's not right." Henry decided. "It shouldn't have happened."

"I know Pet." Kate smiled sadly. "David was a good man. He'd be so proud of you. The way you are coping here, away from your Ma and looking after little Margaret."

"The bairn needs me." Henry sighed heavily. The weight of the world seemed to sit on the little boy's shoulders. "There was a man here today, when I came home from school. Who was he?"

"Henry?" Kate felt her pulse quicken.

"Oh, I saw him our Kate. He was in the parlor with you when I got home. I heard you talking. Saying my Da was in Occupied France when he died. That he was working for the SOE. What is the SOE?"

"Because the German's are in France. They're occupying it."

"Ok." Henry frowned. "But what is the SOE? Can I be in it?"

"No." Kate snapped. "No you cannot. Not now, not ever. You must never ever tell anyone you know about the SOE. It is something you have no need to worry about.

"I promise." Henry frowned as she ushered him back into the house. "But when I'm big I'm going to be just like my Da."

"Aye lad." Kate sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of."

######################

June 2013

Zaf looked along the sun baked street as he waited for the door to open.

"In. Now." Ros practically dragged Zaf into the hallway of the safe house flat. "What are you doing here?"

"Where's Harry?"

"Stop stalling." Ros glared at him. She could sense something had happened. Something had gone seriously wrong. Zaf looked at the floor for a moment as he tried to order his thoughts.

"Ruth has been taken."

"What?" Ros' blood ran cold. "When and how?"

"From the car park below Thames House." Zaf paused. "Approximately ninety minutes ago."

"Shit." Ros began pacing the hallway. "Does Harry know?"

"He does now." Both turned to see Harry stood next to his former mentor. The old man shook his head sadly as he scratched his beard. Harry visibly paled but Zaf couldn't tell if it was due to anger or shock.

"Tariq is searching the databases but it looks like she was taken by Terry O Callaghan. Calum is activating all the CCTV footage from Thames House outwards in a twenty mile radius. Hopefully we can follow their direction."

"Good." Harry nodded once.

"Malcolm is working on the data Ruth found when she looked around 6's files. They're encrypted and we know Fitzgerald is involved." Zaf fell silent as he saw the look in Harry's eye.

"I knew it." Harry glared. The knot of fear in his guts twisted. He refused to think of any other possibility than finding Ruth safe. He had no idea how he would tell Nick and Gracie if anything else happened to Ruth.

"We will find her." Ros stated. "And that treacherous bastard."

"Aye lass, we will." Henry nodded. "But these bastards make the Redbacks look like school yard bullies. Even Boscard never did the things these men have been known to do."

"We find her." Zaf looked Harry in the eyes. "She's coming home, Harry. And we will stop Fitzgerald and O Callaghan. It's what we do." Harry nodded, unable to speak for a moment before digging his mobile phone out of his pocket and walking into the now abandoned kitchen. Seconds later his son answered the call.

"Dad?"

"Graham, are you ok?"

"Yeah." Graham asked as he jogged up the steps to Harry and Ruth's front door. "Dad? What's wrong?"

"I won't be home for a while. I need you to look after the pets and the kids. Stay with them. Don't let Nick or the girls out of your sight."

"Catherine."

"Including Catherine."

"Dad, do I need to be worried? Terri is here with me."

"Yes." Harry answered honestly. "Keep her with you. I don't know what is happening yet. Look after Nick and your sisters. Ruth is missing. At the moment, that really is all I know."

"Bloody Hell."

"I'll call when I know more. Please son, I need to know I can rely on you." Graham swallowed hard before nodding. Then realising his father couldn't see him he cleared his throat.

"I wont let you down. I'll look after them."

"Thank you." Harry answered, relieved that he didn't have to worry about his children as much as he thought. "I'll call when I know more." He ended the call as Henry walked into the kitchen.

"What now?"

"Now." Harry stated. "We get you to Thames House. Ros. Get hold of Tariq. Tell him to put an alert out on all old blue transit vans. See if any have been bought from Northern Ireland recently."

"OK." Ros nodded.

"I want Lucas and Adam to ..." He paused as his phone began ringing. He froze for a moment before answering the call.

"Harry Pearce." The voice on the other end of the line laughed. "You married well this time. Congratulations."

"You touch her. I will find you and I will kill you." Harry spoke calmly. His voice deadly low. Ros narrowed her eyes, inwardly cursing that they weren't at Thames House so Tariq coudl trace the call. She slipped into the living room to call Beth. She had a feeling the younger woman's time in the private sector was going to be useful.

"Now now Harry." The voice on the other end of the line scalded him. Harry narrowed his eyes. A million memories running through his mind. None of them pleasant.

"What do you want?"

#################

A/n More soon. Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Didn't get many reviews for the last chapter. Hope you like this one more. Please let me know. This chapter borrows from the last episode of series 8 but with a twist. No copyright infringement intended.**

Game Plan?

Ruth kept her eyes closed as she felt two pairs of hands lift her from the back of the van. Part of her didn't know whether to be scared that this was really the end for her or offended that the men clearly thought she was too heavy to lift on their own. She tried to stay relaxed as the cold concrete floor came into contact with her skin.

"Ruth." A distinctly Irish accent spoke. She kept quiet, remembering how Jo had loved the sound of the male Irish accent. Even saying she wished Harry would sent her on assignment over there - just so she could spend time surrounded by the beautiful accent. "Ruth, I know you are alive and I know you can hear me." She opened her eyes gingerly as the thick set man helped her to sit up.

"What do you want?"

"I am sorry about this. None of this is anything to do with you. Not really."

"Excuse me if I don't accept your apology." Ruth glared at him, her blue eyes almost navy with determination. "What is this about?"

"Has your husband ever mentioned me? Has Juliet Shaw?"

"No." Ruth lied as she suddenly realised who the man was. "There was someone else here."

"Christian." The man stated. "He's a mate of mine. He'll be back later."

Ruth stared straight ahead. She knew exactly why the man in front of her was so nervous. She was missing and half of Section D would be looking for her. She knew that when an officer was missing it became the priority to find them - for the sake of national security if nothing else. Part of her knew Harry and the others would want her back for more than just what she knew.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Ruth." He turned and sat on a metal box in front of her. "Have you ever been scared? I mean really scared. So frightened that you'll die before you see your kids grow up or tell the man you love how you feel?" Ruth narrowed her eyes slightly, wondering what this man really knew about her.

"If you have touched my kids." Ruth's voice was lower and more deadly than she had ever heard herself. "If you have."

"Hold on." He looked her in the eye. "I am many things but I swear I don't touch kids. Your bairns have done nothing to me. Why would I hurt them?"

"I've not done anything to you either. Yet, here I am." Ruth felt her heart rate speed up.

"Aye." He nodded. "Here you are. And before anything else is said or done I want to tell you that this is nothing personal to you." He got to his feet as Ruth's eyes widened. Suddenly the needle in his hand terrified her more than anything she had seen in her life.

"What's that?" She tried to pull away, to put some distance between herself and the syringe in his left hand.

"It's ok." He grabbed her as she screamed and tried to free herself from his grip. "It's just going to send you to sleep. That's all."

"Anaesthetic." Ruth squirmed. "I can't. I'm ..." She slumped in his arms. Seconds later he laid her on her side and covered her with a dirty, grey blanket before sighting an IV and anaesthetic drug into her arm.

"Sweet dreams lovely girl." Ruth laid quietly on her side as he pulled out his mobile phone. "Harry, your wife is waiting for you."

##########################

"The trade conference has to go ahead. " The woman walked ahead of Adam and Lucas. Her heels clipped on the tiled floor of the hotel. Lucas raised an eyebrow as Adam smirked.

"Yes." Lucas stated. "We appreciate that."

"Good."

"Look, Ms Davies." Adam stated. "Emma."

"Ms Davies will suffice." She snapped as Lucas tried to suppress a smile. The brunette in front of him reminded him of his wife in so many ways. He could see how she had become the boss of a multinational chain of hotels.

"There is a credible threat to the trade conference." Adam stated. "We wouldn't be here otherwise. I appreciate you have to think of your profits but lives are at stake. It wouldn't really look good on your website if this place ignored a threat the security services believed was real and very likely."

"Is that a threat in itself?" She turned as Adam smirked. Lucas shook his head.

"No." Lucas reassured her. "I'd think of it more as career advice."

##########################

"Where is she?" Harry walked out of the safe house towards his 4x4. Zaf lead Henry towards his car, knowing Harry was right. They had to get everyone back to Thames House if there was to be a chance of stopping history repeating itself. Harry opened the car door and climbed in as Ros got in the passenger seat. He narrowed his eyes at her but Ros stared him down.

"She's having a little rest. You work that girl too hard."

"What do you want, Terry?"

"I want a lot of things, Harry. You know me, I was always ambitious. If I hadn't been set up back then I'd have your job now. Maybe even have your wife. That's how you met isn't it?"

"You seem to know a lot about me."

"Aye, well Connie was always good at keeping in touch." Terry smirked. "She was a good girl."

"She was a traitor. You think I set you up? That you were innocent when you went into the Maze?" Harry glared out of the windscreen. "The fact Aiden McCarthy died along with James and a young couple had nothing to do with the van you were driving being full off explosives when you drove it into the crowd."

"You were in that van." Terry spat. "You were there Harry."

"What do you want?" Harry glared.

"You want your Ruth back? I'm guessing she means a lot to you?"

"What do you want?" Harry gritted his teeth as he spoke. "If you have touched her."

"Now now." Terry almost laughed. "You always were a little bit fiery. She's with me. The anaesthetic in her IV is the exact same one she reacts to. Now, she's been given one fairly large dose and the drip in her arm is feeding her a steady supply."

"Terry." Harry's voice was almost desperate. He kept his eyes on the road, afraid to let Ros see how scared he was.

"Meet me. The bay in an hour." Terry stated. "You know the ice cream stand there? The one with the little fat Italian man that runs it."

"I know Mario's." Harry remembered buying Nick and Charlie ice creams there the previous summer.

"Meet me there. Without Ms Myers and we'll discuss the trade conference and how you can clear my name. You may want to bring the file Henry wrote on the explosion. The one that condemned me to twenty years in that hell hole."

"And what if I don't?"

"The lovely Ruth will do her best impression of Sleeping Beauty, so she will. Only this time she doesn't wake up." Terry hung up the call as Ros swore.

"I am not letting you do this on your own." Ros stated, leaving Harry no room for argument. "Ruth is my friend, despite the past."

"I know." Harry started the engine.

"Is it true?" Ros asked as he pulled the car out into the main flow of traffic. "Was he set up to take the fall?"

"No." Harry snapped. "As far as I know he was and is as guilty as sin."

"Connie pulled a lot of wool over a lot of eyes." Ros answered quietly. "Would she have gained anything by half the Section being in Ireland and you, James and Juliet being killed?"

"I have to find Ruth." Harry said calmly. "I want you and the rest of the team to concentrate on the bomb threat to the trade conference."

"The others already are." Ros stated. "You are not walking into a death trap. For one thing Ruth would never forgive me. Or herself."

##########################

"Tariq." Calum jogged towards him. "Lucas just called, he's on his way in. Have you heard from Malcolm?"

"Yeah." Tariq looked up. "Zoe is in the Registry looking for that folder Ros called in about. It's so old I bet it's on microfilm. Ruth would find it in five seconds."

"Ruth isn't here." Malcolm stated as he walked in through the Pods. "That is part of the problem. I think you'd want to see this."

"Aye lad." All eyes returned to the Pods as Henry and Zaf walked in. "I reckon you will want to see it. Remember when you do, Harry was a field officer. Like Ros and Adam are now."

"He was Section Chief." Zaf stated. Henry nodded.

"Aye but in those days Section Chiefs didn't have the authority they have now. There was no way they'd go more than a few hours without checking in with base if they had other officers in the field with them. If they were going solo it could be days or even weeks before they checked in." Henry took his tweed hat off to expose a bald head. "Terry always said he was set up. I never believed it. I had all the evidence I needed to see he was guilty. Harry was on life support for three weeks."

"How?" Calum asked.

"He dragged Juliet away from a bullet. Took it himself." Henry shook his head. "I wasn't there so I only know what was in the report. What I do know is Harry had a bullet wound in his leg that bled so badly the boy went into shock. Terry and James fought for control of the bomb trigger while Juliet tried to save Harry."

"Juliet helping someone." Zaf shook his head in disbelief. "Really?"

"I know what you think of the girl but she wasn't always as hard as nails. The service made her that way." Henry sighed, remembering what he had been told by Ros. "The Juliet Shaw I knew was ambitious, bloody good at her job and a bit of a flirt. Not the woman that got involved in Yalta and all the trouble after it."

"So? Harry was badly hurt." Calum stated. "James Davies was murdered. Who arrested Terry?"

"Harry was badly hurt." Malcolm stated. "I saw him when he came back to the mainland. Catherine and Graham were worried sick. The bullet had hit the femoral artery, just higher than his knee cap. The second bullet went straight through his knee."

"Oh God." Zoe swallowed hard as she thought of her boss. She knew he had retired from the field in the mid 1990s due to a severe leg injury. She had never imagined what that injury had entailed. She leant against the side of Erin's desk. "Actually, didn't Harry say he wanted us all back here?"

"Yeah." Tariq nodded. "I've put a call out to get Alec and Juliet back. Adam and Lucas have ignored theirs so far and Beth and Dimitri aren't answering."

"OK." Zaf asked. "So where is Erin?"

#############################################

The sun was low in the sky as Harry parked the car a few feet away from the docks. He knew Ros was somewhere in the crowds of commuters and holiday makers that were milling around. He walked towards the meeting point Terry had ordered him to wait at. In his heart he knew he was too late. Carefully he slipped his hand in his pocket and activated the tracker Malcolm had insisted he wore.

"Harry."

"Where is she?" He turned to face his former colleague.

"She's resting."

"I don't have the file." Harry stated. "I need more time."

"More time is the one thing you don't have." Terry smirked. "I want to know who set me up. I know it wasn't James. The poor sod was too honest. Juliet was capable and she knew Fitzgerald was knocking off Aiden and Christian's sister."

"Aioffe." Harry stated. "Her name is Aioffe."

"Was her name. Christian tells me she died of cancer in the late 1990s." Terry glared at him. "So you wont be bothering her. Not unless you've a bloody good psychic."

"I can get the file." Harry lied. "I can find out who set you up. It wasn't me. Terry, James was our friend. He was a good man."

"So you saying it was Jules."

"No." Harry snapped. "If she set you up why did she save me? Why not let me die and have you in prison for another death as well as the four caused by the bomb."

"I want that file. I will tell you where your wife is when I have the file. I warn you now, Harry." He paused as Harry looked him in the eye. "Ruth doesn't have long left."

###############################

"Oh Ruth." Calum nearly jumped out of his seat. "Clever girl."

"What?" Zoe was at his side in seconds. "What is it?"

"She's still wearing the pendant I asked her to test for me. A long wave tracker. It's only just come on." Tariq beamed. "I'll see who's in the area."

"Thank God." Zaf paused. "Is there any way we can warn Harry?"

"Not at the moment." Tariq stated. "He's still 'dark' but I can track him. He's just turned his wire off."

"No one would dare fall out of contact in my day." Henry shook his head. The pod door whooshed open to allow Alec and Juliet to walk in.

"Good job this isn't your day. And for the record Terry O Callaghan is not innocent. He killed four people and would have killed Harry and me." Henry held her gaze for a moment, seeing the girl that challenged him any chance she had. Tariq quietly picked up his phone and called Lucas.

"Mate? I think we know where Ruth is. You and Adam are the nearest. Can you get there?"

"Give me directions." Lucas stated calmly. Adam glanced at him before pushing his foot to the accelerator.

#########################################

Ruth was cold. That was the first thing that registered as she lay on the concrete floor shivering. Nothing else seemed real. She was cold. More than cold, her brain seemed to have frozen as her mind played tricks with her. She fought to open her eyes but they wouldn't oblige. The image of a teenage boy laughing as his baby sister tried to crawl filled her mind. All that mattered was getting back to them. She felt herslef slip away as two strong hands pulled her off the floor.

"Ruth."

She groaned slightly as she felt the hands dig into the sleeve of her blouse.

"Ruth, it's Lucas. You're safe now. Open your eyes." She groaned once more as her eyes failed to oblige. "Adam, I don't like the look of her breathing."

"No, neither do I." Lucas pulled the IV out of her arm and shook her gently. Adam helped Lucas bundle her into his arms as they carried Ruth out into the sunshine, hoping the fresh air would help wake her. "Ruth! Come on, we have to find Harry."

"Har.." She frowned but kept her eyes closed. "Harr.."

"Harry. That's right. Come on." Adam smiled slightly. Ruth opened her eyes and began to visibly shake. Lucas gently placed her on the front passenger seat of the car. "You're ok now." Adam stated.

"No." Ruth shook her head as her brain threatened to explode. "No, I."

"What is it?" Lucas waited as Ruth tried to order her scrambled thoughts.

"Harry said." She paused. "He said I'd not be able to forgive him."

"Ruth?" Lucas watched.

"I don't get the chance. He's going to kill him. Terry is going to kill him."

"I don't think so Ruth." Lucas stated firmly. "Not this time."

################################

A/N what will happen when Harry and Ruth meet each other? What about Ros and Lucas? What will Terry do when he realises Ruth has been rescued? And what did go on in Belfast so long ago? Please review.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Recovery**

Lucas stared at Ruth as she lay with her head against the car headrest. She was quieter than he had ever known her to be and it unnerved him. He was sure he had never seen her so pale.

"Adam."

"I'll call Beth." Adam pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and dialled.

"Beth?" Lucas looked at his friend. "I was thinking more along the lines of an ambulance."

"Not going to hospital." Ruth stated but kept her eyes closed. "Not safe."

"Ruth, come on." Lucas tried. "Harry will kill us if we didn't get you the help you need. And I really don't want that."

"No." Ruth stated more strongly. "I am not going to hospital. There's no security there. If someone really wants to kill me that's where they'll do it."

"Ok, ok." Lucas relented as Adam spoke to Beth.

"Get in the car." Adam looked at Lucas. "We're going to see a friend of Beth's."

"Can we trust her friend?"

"Yeah." Adam smiled. "Harry did. So did Henry so I guess we can." Ruth smiled slightly as she rested her head against the car and let Lucas pressed the seatbelt into the clasp, her limbs too heavy to fasten it herself.

###############################

"She's dead." Harry stated as Ros walked up to him. "I'm too late." The blonde stared at him for a moment, unsure what to say. Harry seemed so convinced that Ruth had been murdered she had no idea how to get through to him. For a moment she was unsure she had even heard him correctly.

"What?" Ros felt the colour drain from her face. She knew anything happening to Ruth was the one thing that could break Harry. The holiday makers and commuters all around them seemed to fade into the background.

"He's hooked her up to an anaesthetic. You know what happened last time she was anesthetized." The anger in Harry's voice seemed to suppress the grief. Ros closed her eyes for a moment. "Without proper medical help, without an actual anaethetist there she doesn't stand a chance. He told me she doesn't have long."

"Then she isn't dead yet." Ros snapped. "This is Ruth you are talking about. You should know better than to give up on her." Ros turned and walked back towards the car, leaving Harry to process what he had been told. He watched her walk away, hoping that she was right. Terry had told him Ruth didn't have long left but he dreaded to think what he wanted the Operation Sunflower file for. He was as guilty as sin. They both knew it.

Ros pulled the mobile out of her pocket as it began to ring.

"Tariq?" She turned as she listened to him panic on the other end of the line. "Ok, ok." She began walking back to Harry as a red light appeared on his lapel. Harry seemed oblivious to the fact he was in a sniper's sights. Ros broke out into a run as Harry suddenly realised he was about to be rugby tackled to the floor by his Section Chief.

"HARRY!" She barreled into him as the crowds around them screamed. A young child cried as the sound of breaking glass and gunfire shot through the air. Harry hit the ground with a thud as Ros landed on top of him. His head connected with the concrete with a sickening crack. "Harry?"

"Bloody Hell." Harry mouthed, aware that the back of his head was bleeding.

"You ok?"

"Yes." Harry lay staring at the sky listening to the sound of police cars heading towards them. "You?"

"It wasn't me that was just targeted by some nutter with a gun."

"True." Harry pushed himself into a sitting position. "Does tend to darken the mood."

"Just a bit. " Ros agreed. "Tariq called, he saw you on CCTV with a laser sight on your jacket."

"Knew he was a good addition to the team." Harry smiled.

"A mini Malcolm." Ros smiled back. "He's a good kid. Questionable taste in t-shirts."

"Ros." She ran a hand through her blonde hair.

"You're bleeding."

"I'll live."

"You better." Ros got to her feet. "If you don't Ruth will kill me. She's alive. Lucas and Adam have her, so you can stop panicking."

##########################

"Christian McCarthy." Calum stated. "Ex army, went a bit weird after serving in the Falklands War in 82."

"Ok." Erin frowned as she sat on the edge of Malcolm's desk. "But that was twelve years before the op that took Juliet and Harry to Belfast."

"Yes." Calum agreed. "He was discharged from the Army in 1986. Still in his twenties. He was in and out of Mental Health hospitals and clinics until 1992. Two years later he gets involved with the group Harry and Juliet went to Ireland to infiltrate. He was a trained sniper."

"When did you find out?" Dimitri asked as he returned from the kitchenette.

"When I looked on Ruth's desk. It was part of what she was working on when she left the Grid. So what does an MI6 officer, an ex army sniper and a case from twenty years ago have to do with Harry now?"

"Ruth would work it out." Tariq sighed as Dimitri nodded.

"Well, she isn't here." Erin snapped. "I wish she was but she isn't. So we will just have to find the answer." The men stared at Erin in disbelief. None of them had any idea what to do with the information Ruth had found. None of them knew what Ruth really did but they knew she was the best at what she did.

"I." Calum frowned.

"Come on." Erin sighed. "We have no other choice. Not until we know she's safe anyway. We can do this." She hoped her analytical skills were up to scratch but even the new girl was aware she was no match for Ruth. Dimitri nodded once before heading across to his desk and answering the ringing phone.

"Beth? Oh thank God. Yeah, I'll tell them. We need to get the message to Harry." He smiled before hanging up. "She's alive. Lucas and Adam have her." A sigh of relief filled the air as the news sunk in.

##########################

A net curtain twitched as Adam pulled the car outside a nondescript house on a terraced street. The empty milk bottle and red tulips in the window were the only signs the occupant was expecting them.

"In, now." The elderly woman stated as she opened the door to allow Lucas to carry Ruth inside.

"Thank you so much for this." Adam stated as he followed them in. "Beth said we could trust you."

"I'm a pensioner, I'm not an idiot boy. Of course you can trust me. Take her upstairs. Bedroom straight in front of you is made up ready." Lucas nodded as he headed up the stairs. Adam looked towards the living room where Beth was sat staring out of the window.

"Beth." Adam walked towards her. "How?"

"Joan has been a contact of mine since before I came back into the public sector. She worked with Henry, back in the day and she was good to me when my parents died."

"The last time a woman of her age got involved in one of our ops she was brutally murdered and Ruth and I were kidnapped before being chased with a cross bow." Adam stared at her. "It's dangerous."

"Only Ruth." Beth shook her head. "Don't underestimate Joan Gough. She's saved my neck more than once."

"Yea?" Adam looked up. "I need to call Harry."

"You mean he doesn't know she's here?"

"Not yet." Adam smiled slightly.

##############################

Harry closed his eyes as he listened to Adam on the other end of the line. He knew a little about Joan from his time in Belfast. He knew she would do her best to look after Ruth.

"She's alive." Harry stated as Ros smiled slightly.

"Ok, does Tony know?"

"I can't see how. Tariq and Calum located her and Lucas and Adam found her." Harry stated. "There is no way Tony could have left me and got to the location before Adam and Lucas."

"Ok." Ros agreed. "I think we can use that to our advantage." Harry nodded before pushing his foot to the accelerator.

"Yes." Harry stated. "Call Dimitri. I want him, Alec and Zaf there with Erin. We're bringing Tony O'Callaghan in and I am not taking any chances. If he is sniffing around then I know Christian McCarthy is somewhere in the background."

"Probably." Ros stared out of the window. "First you go to Ruth. Leave the pick up to us." She glanced as he glared out of the window. His jaw set and his eyes narrowed. "Harry, some things are more important." He nodded before turning the car to the left. Ros was right, Ruth was more important than settling old scores. Terry would have to wait.

#######################

June 1994

Harry stared at the man in front of him, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. Someone had sold them out. He knew it. He could just sense it as Terry smirked at him.

"Say that again."

"You heard, Harry."

"Declan." Juliet collected.

"Oh I think we can drop the cover now." Terry smirked. Aiden narrowed his eyes before handing him a gun.

"It's too late." Aiden glared at harry. "I thought you were one of us. You and that stuck up bitch of a sister of yours. My brother was right."

Harry glanced behind his former friend to where the body of a young man lay at the back of the van. It was clear James was dead, and had been for a while. Inwardly Harry cursed himself for letting the techi out of his sight. He knew that the McCarthy brothers were dangerous. Now it looked like he and Juliet were about to meet the same fate.

"This is ridiculous." Juliet snapped as Terry shook his head. "We have to get those people out. Innocent people are going to die."

"Innocent? Since when was anyone innocent?" Aiden laughed. Terry's hand shook as he held the gun towards Harry and then Juliet. She paled as she realised the gun was aimed at her. Harry looked between Terry and Juliet, knowing there was no way they could get out of the blue transit van and stop the explosion. The little red numbers on the L.E.D display just sought to taunt him. He'd failed. Jane had been right - he wouldn't see the kids grow up.

"Who was it?" Harry asked. "If we are going to die, who sold us out?"

"Like I said Harry. You should keep your friends close and your enemies in bed with you." Terry smirked. "It's over, your wife knew it long before you did."

"Jane." Harry glared at him. "No, she wouldn't know how to. She."

"Hates you as much as you hate her." Terry laughed as he raised the gun.

################################

"Harry." Joan opened the front door as Harry stood in front of her. Ros nodded towards the living room where Adam, Lucas and Beth were deep in discussion. "Inside, now."

"You have half my team in your house. I'd like them back." Ros deadpanned. "You three, stop skiving."

"Boss." Beth looked up. The young woman looked exhausted, it was clear the effects of her brain surgery were still present. The more tired she got, the more apparent they were.

"Lucas, Adam with me. Beth, I want you to stay here."

"Ros." Beth got to her feet.

"Joan served in Belfast when all this was kicking off. She could be a target. Stay here." Ros glanced at Joan who leant on her walking stick. One eyebrow raised, the pensioner knew what Ros was doing. It wasn't her that needed protecting, it was Beth. Lucas and Adam quietly followed her out of the house, towards Adam's car leaving the two women in the house while Harry made his way upstairs to where Ruth had been left to sleep.

###############################

The bedroom was impossibly dark for the time of day it was. Harry glanced towards where he knew the window would be, aware the black out curtains Joan had chosen were closed tightly. Ruth lay, propped on her side by pillows to stop her rolling onto her back. Harry closed his eyes, he knew Lucas had thought of that. He'd seen more than one person choke on their own tongue while drugged during his time in Russia.

"Ruth." He sat on the edge of the bed and reached out, smoothing her hair away from her face. "I'm sorry. Oh Ruth, I'm so sorry." He spoke quietly watching her for any signs that she had heard him. He glanced at her chest, relieved that she seemed to be breathing normally. Her eyes flickered open as she felt his hand running through her hair.

"Ok."

"Ruth?" Harry was startled from his thoughts as she looked at him. "You're."

"Not dead." Her words slurred slightly as she blinked, trying to focus on something. She settled on his gaze as he smiled slightly.

"This is all my fault. I am so sorry." Harry looked away, unable to bear her eyes on him. He knew this was it, this was when she found out the man she had married was not the man she had thought.

"No." Ruth pushed herself into a sitting position, ignoring the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm her. "Harry." She reached out and grabbed his bicep. "This is not your fault. This is nothing to do with now."

"I."

"I found something. When I was on my own at the Grid. I should have waited until one of you came back. It's my fault for leaving the Grid. after all this time you'd think I'd have learned." She smiled slightly. "And as for Terry and the McCarthy brothers I think I know who sold you out. I think I know who turned Terry and I have proof. Or at least I have the start of proof."

"Ruth?"

"And I know it wasn't you that set Terry up. I know he shot you." Ruth touched his face as he closed his eyes. "He tried to kill me because he knew what I was working on. He's wanted to blame you or Juliet for so long." She paused as he watched her. "It was Fitzgerald. I think he was having an affair with Aiofe McCarthy while he was in Belfast and Jane when he was in London."

"He was married." Harry stated quietly, another of Jane's betrayals sinking in. "I."

"Harry." Ruth blinked back tears as she rested her head against his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault."

"I could have lost you." Harry hugged her tightly, cursing the day he had ever let Henry send him to Belfast. "I."

"Never." Ruth mumbled into his shirt as buried his face in her hair and held him. Part of him wanted to be with Ros and the others when they brought Terry in. The spook in him wanted to be there when Terry realised Ruth had been rescued. He held her a little tighter, keeping his eyes tightly shut. In that moment as he fought not to cry he knew there was no way he was going to risk losing Ruth because of his past again.

##############################

A/N Not sure I like this chapter. Please review.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Blame Game**

Adam stared at the van opposite where he was sat. It seemed that it was only a few minutes ago that he and Lucas had collected Ruth, thanks to Tariq's tip off.

"I have eyeball." Zaf stated calmly as he watched the man they knew had taken Ruth walk towards the abandoned building. Ros stayed in the shadows with Dimitri as Lucas watched the scene from a doorway opposite.

"That's Terry O Callaghan." Zoe stated through their earpieces. "No sign of McCarthy."

"Ok." Ros sighed. "So we pick up O Callaghan."

"Ready." Erin stated.

"Wait." Ros snapped as the man they watched walk into the building where Erin and Ros were standing in the shadows.

"Your old man is doing his best to get you back." O Callaghan stated as he walked towards where he had left Ruth heavily sedated. "Never known Harry Pearce to give a shit about anyone else."

"Is that so?" Erin stated as she stepped out of the shadows.

"What the!"

"Oh she's gone." Ros stated.

"What? I." He turned as Ros walked towards him.

"And there's me thinking he was waiting for this brunette." Erin smiled. Terry backed up and tried to turn. In seconds Dimitri had him rugby tackled to the floor.

"Get off me."

"No." Ros knelt to his level. "You and I need to have a little chat." Dimitri pulled the older man to his feet as he grunted. Ros shook her head slightly, wondering how the middle-aged man in front of her had ever been a spook. She had no idea how he had been turned during Operation Sunshine.

#############################

"Ruth." Harry sniffed as he pulled back. "I am so sorry."

"If you apologise one more time I'll file for divorce." Ruth smiled slightly as Harry's eyes filled with horror. "I'm teasing. You're stuck with me, Harry." She reached up and touched his face. "It is not your fault that I was taken." He closed his eyes. "And it is not your fault that James Davies was murdered."

"I was too slow." Harry spoke quietly. "If I had been better at my job."

"You didn't shoot him." Ruth spoke firmly. "And you didn't doctor the records when you got back to London."

"What?" Harry stared at her in disbelief. "The reports."

"Don't add up." Ruth sighed. "I found all the paperwork related to the case on microfilm. I ready your report and Juliet's. They tally. It's the official report and the intel that doesn't add up. Connie was the analyst."

"I should say I'm not surprised at anything that woman did anymore." Harry watched as Ruth raised an eyebrow.

"She was a bloody good analyst."

"And a traitor, Ruth." Harry sighed. "I didn't see that until it was too late either."

"Ben's murder is no more your fault than James' death was." Ruth held his gaze as he took in her words. "Connie murdered Ben and I think her and Fitzgerald had something to do with James' death. She certainly knew about Jane's affair."

"Why didn't Henry see they didn't tally? He should have read every report." Harry felt himself begin to get angry at his former mentor. "It's not as if he had as many officers in his section as I have."

"True, we're not exactly understaffed." Ruth watched as he raised an eyebrow. "Which makes a change. Harry, maybe he was just relieved to have you and Juliet home? I don't know, he's an old man he may not even remember."

"This is Henry Parks. He'll remember." Harry shook his head.

"Go back to Thames House." Ruth squeezed his hand. "I'm going to check on the kids and I'll be there."

"No." Harry watched as her eyes clouded. "Go home, stay with Nick and the others. Rest."

"How can I rest?" Ruth asked. "I know Graham and Catherine will look after them but I don't know what will happen with you. I'm coming back to Thames House." Ruth fell silent as Harry's phone sprang to life. She looked at the small phone as Harry pulled it out of his jacket pocket.

"I have to take this." He sighed. "Ros."

"Ok." Ruth squeezed his hand. For a moment she knew he wasn't really with her. He was somewhere in the past, blaming himself for being too slow, for not seeing that Terry had turned killer until it was too later.

"They've taken him back to Thames House, quoted half the Anti Terrorism legislation at him." Harry watched as Ruth rolled her eyes. She knew Ros and the others had done slightly more than that.

"OK, I need to talk to Malcolm before I come back to Thames House."

"You need to rest." Harry tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear. Ruth raised an eyebrow.

"I will. When this is over."

"OK." Harry kissed her once more. Ruth wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close to her for a moment longer. "See you later." He pulled back, regretting that he had to leave her.

###########################

June 1994

"Henry." Harry spoke into the payphone. "It's all gone to shit here. We have to get out."

"Hold your nerve boy." Henry's Geordie accent did nothing to appease Harry's nerves. "Connie hasn't found any suggestion that the plans have been changed. It's all going to kick off at that trade conference."

"It feels wrong." Harry turned so his back was facing the wall. He watched the mums pushing prams along Belfast high street as the kids milled around the shops and pensioners chatted. It seemed like any ordinary Saturday morning anywhere in the world. He imagined what Catherine and Graham would be doing but quickly pushed that thought away. Graham was beginning to become a handful and Catherine was as strong willed as any officer he had ever worked with. It made him worry even more as they saw the relationship between him and their mother disintegrate even more.

"I need facts not feelings to pull you out. What does Terry and Juliet say about this?"

"She agrees with me." Harry stated, knowing Juliet would back him publicly, even if she didn't agree with him. "James isn't a field officer. He should be back in London with you." Harry argues once again.

"I make the decisions here, when you are Section Head I dare say you'll be capable of doing what you think best."

"Henry." He tried again. "This is getting out of hand. I am sure our cover is about to be blown. Terry is acting weird."

"Oh that's your criteria for ending an op that may save the Peace Process? Terry having an off day. Well, it isn't good enough. I need more than gut instinct and weird officers."

Harry shook his head as he was left staring into space listening to the dialling tone. He had to find Juliet and work out what was going on. He knew he couldn't trust Terry anymore.

##########################

June 2013

"Sit down." Ros stated as the middle-aged man in front of her took a seat on the other side of the table. Lucas remained in the doorway of the Interview Room.

"Where's the boss?"

"Your looking at her." Lucas stated.

"You? You're Section Chief. Bloody Hell."

"Oh yes, you can say that again." Ros leant forward and pressed record on the tape recorder. "Section Chief Ros Myers, Case Officer Lucas North with suspect Terrance O Callaghan." She turned to face Terry. "So, why did you kidnap our best analyst?"

"I will talk to Harry Pearce and no one else."

"Why? You really think he'd have stolen the files you asked for?" Ros glared at him, her voice deadpan. For a moment she reminded Lucas of a cat teasing it's prey. Terry glared back.

"You've no idea little girl."

"How long was it before you betrayed them?" Ros asked. "How long before you thought the McCarthy brothers were the ones to trust? That they weren't going to kill dozens, maybe hundreds of civilians with that car bomb. Was it before or after you saw Fitzgerald in that bar? Did he know you were on the blink?"

"You were only a baby at the time. What can you know?"

Ros smiled slyly, aware that the man opposite her was trying to buy time. If she had her way there was no chance that Harry was going anywhere near him.

#######################

"Harry." Zoe stood up as he walked onto the Grid. "How's"

"Ruth is fine. Thank you Zoe." Harry smiled slightly, aware that Zoe and Ruth had been friends for a long time. "Henry. My office. Now." He walked past the pensioner as Henry shook his head. "Juliet, you too."

Juliet raised an eyebrow, unused to being ordered around. She followed quietly as the rest of the Grid watched. Only the click of her crutches on the floor broke the silence.

"What is that about?" Tariq asked. Calum shrugged as Adam glared.

"Keep watching the interview downstairs." Adam stated as he kept his eyes on the main office.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are you sure about this?" Beth asked as Ruth stumbled downstairs. Ruth nodded.

"I have to see Malcolm."

"Call him." Joan stated. "The man can come here. You, my girl are in no fit state to go gallivanting here, there and everywhere."

"She's right." Beth tilted her head as she watched her friend. "I mean it, Ruth. You look like shit."

"Thanks." Ruth rested heavily against a chair.

"No need to call him, looks like he's here." Joan headed towards the door as both Beth and Ruth tensed. Neither had any idea how Malcolm would know where they were. Joan lead him into the living room. "Apparently that young man that was here earlier told him where you are." Joan ushered Malcolm towards the sofa. "I have to clean the kitchen. I'll leave you to it." She headed out of the room as Ruth and Beth sat down.

"It's good to see you." Beth smiled at the older man. "Really."

Malcolm smiled slightly. "Lucas called me, told me that Ruth had been taken and that you were here."

"Did you find anything?" Ruth asked, suddenly the pain and fatigue was forgotten. Malcolm nodded.

"You were right. The reports Juliet and Harry put in were heavily doctored after the fact."

"By who?" Beth asked.

"Not Harry." Ruth stated firmly. "He would never do that."

"Of course not." Malcolm stated calmly. "But the reports were doctored. The version I read, the official version is very different to the one you showed me."

"How?" Beth watched as Ruth bit her lip.

"Someone wanted to blame Harry for what went wrong. If the man hadn't been so badly injured there are those that would have blamed him for James' death. They wanted him out of the field before he found out too much."

"Who are they?" Beth asked as Ruth shook her head. She knew Harry had blamed himself for his friend' death for the past twenty years.

"The same people that set up Terry O Callaghan. Who put him in a position that he couldn't get out of."

"Oh God." Ruth ran a hand through her hair as Joan swore loudly enough to be heard from the kitchen. "It wasn't."

"You were right, Ruth. Fitzgerald was behind it. But so was Connie James."

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A/N I may delete this story - not sure I like the last two chapters. Please review.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Constance**

Tariq ignored the fact Erin and Adam were trying to work out what was going on in Harry's office and stared at the computer screen. It was clear that things were not going Ros' way in the Interview Room but he had no idea what they were going to do about it.

"What is going on?" Zoe asked as she followed Adam's gaze.

"Honestly?" Zaf answered . "Not a clue. But I wouldn't want to be in Juliet or Henry's shoes with Harry in the mood he is."

"Someone threatened Ruth." Adam stated. "That's what happens when he's worried."

"Fair point." Zaf nodded. "Ros got anything?"

"No." Tariq sighed. "He's just demanding to see Harry and saying he was set up."

"Isn't that what they all say?" Alec rolled his eyes, finally looking up from the paperwork he had been studying. Zoe raised an eyebrow before turning back to her computer screen wishing she could make the connections Ruth would have seen in the data in front of her in seconds.

######################

"Harry." Juliet folded her arms across herself and leant heavily against the wall. "What is this about?"

"Did you know?"

"If I knew, I'd hardly be asking." Juliet huffed. Harry nodded. He believed her, which was something he hadn't really done in a long time.

"Henry?"

"Aye lad." Henry shook his head. "You better watch your blood pressure. What's the matter?"

"Did you know the reports on Operation Sunflower were doctored after they were submitted? I read what I wrote and I read what my report says now. Not exactly matching accounts. The same can be said for Juliet. We warned you Terry was on the blink."

"You told me he was behaving strangely. I thought he was having an off day. Or you were." Henry narrowed his eyes. "What exactly are you accusing me of?"

"I called you, warning that we were in danger. I told you I believed James and Terry should have been recalled. Juliet and I could manage quite well alone."

"I did not change the paperwork. Terry killed that boy. He is responsible for the deaths of three other people. Not me, not anyone else in the section at that time. It's like blaming Lucas for the death of Ben Kaplin. Utterly ridiculous."

"Someone changed the reports. The only other person was Connie."

"No." Henry glared.

"Why not?" Juliet's cut glass accent cut through them. For a moment Harry saw the woman that had been the National Intelligence Coordinator rather than his ex or the woman she had become. "She killed a young man in cold blood, sent many more to their deaths when she broke the Sugarhorse chain."

"Not then. I refuse to believe it of her then."

"Why?" Harry watched as the penny dropped. "Oh Henry. Really?" He shook his head as the older man glared at him.

"Well, well." Juliet smirked. "It seems you aren't the only Section Head to fall for his analyst, Harry. Oh Henry, what can i say? It explains why she was the only one not even considered for Belfast."

"I needed an analyst in London."

"I think we gathered that, Henry." Juliet smirked as both men fell silent.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harry walked back into Thames House reception to see Stan sat at his usual place at the front desk. The friendly Jamaican raised a hand and smiled.

"Any news?"

"She's ok, Stan." He walked across to him. "How did you know? About Ruth?"

"I didn't." He smiled. "Not really, but I know what you're like when something is wrong with her. You just don't seem right. And Ros? Well, she goes all protective over Section D. Don't tell her but I'm sure her mothering instincts come out." He laughed at the slightly horrified look on Harry's face. Ros had two children, was a good mum but no one had ever describe her as the maternal kind. He shook his head and turned towards the Interview Rooms determined to speak to his Section Chief.

##################################

"The trade conference is less than three days away." Beth stated as Joan handed her a mug of tea.

"Yeah." Ruth nodded. "Malcolm? Are you sure?"

"Connie was a traitor." Malcolm stated calmly. "I asked Sarah to go through the records with me. I needed a second opinion."

"Sarah?" Joan asked.

"My wife." Malcolm explained. "She's a former analyst. Anyway, apart from Henry I don't see who else could have doctored Harry and Juliet's reports. Even the notes James made had been lost or altered. It stinks, Ruth. As Tariq would say it really stinks."

"And as Tariq always says." Beth smiled as she thought of her friend. "Who stands to benefit? Follow the money."

"Calum and Tariq are doing just that." Malcolm replied.

"Connie was a good analyst." Ruth sighed. "I know how she ended up, I know about Operation Renaissance. And I know how you and Ros found Ben Kaplin."

"Jo was there too." Malcolm's eyes darkened as he remembered the horror on Jo's face and the shear anger on Ros' as they realised Ben had been murdered just a few rooms away from the Grid by one of their own. "I never would have believed it. I worked with her for years."

"Jane was having an affair with Fitzgerald. It was before Harry was shot." Ruth spoke quietly. "I want to talk to her. He may have said something. Or she may have."

"Is that wise?" Joan sat on the edge of the sofa and looked at the younger woman. "She is the mother of your step children. Your husband's ex wife."

"I know." Ruth stared at her. "She's in prison on terrorism charges. She has to be spoken to in relation to this."

"It explains why Fitzgerald knew to search the Grid." Malcolm huffed. "That infernal woman."

"All I am saying." Ruth held Malcolm's gaze. "Is perhaps Fitzgerald and McCarthy set Terry up. Perhaps they decided to do the same to Connie. She wasn't always bad. Was she?"

"I like to think not." Malcolm sighed. "She was my friend, for a time."

"But she was turned during Operation Renaissance. She killed one of Section D and left him to die alone." Ruth sighed. "What about Fitzgerald? He wouldn't have ordered his goons onto the Grid if he didn't have something to hide."

"I don't know." Malcolm sighed. Beth leant back against the thick sofa cushion.

"You said he was knocking off Harry's wife."

"Beth!" Joan laughed. "There are more lady-like ways of saying it! What a lovely way with words."

"Thanks. I try." Beth smiled at her old friend.

"She has a point." Ruth ran a hand through her brown curls. "There is only one thing for it. I'm going to have to talk to Jane."

#######################

"You were in Belfast a month before Harry and Juliet were stationed out there." Lucas stated calmly from his vantage point near the door. Terry shrugged his shoulders.

"I need a ciggie."

"Carry on and you'll get more than that." Ros narrowed her eyes. "What were you doing in Belfast and County Down the month before? You were there in April 1994 for three days."

"If you know so much, why don't you tell me."

"I suggest you answer her question." Lucas stated. "We've a chance of getting out of here before the next decade if you do."

"No comment."

"Ok." Ros smiled slightly, her eyes remained as cold as ice. "You were there to meet Frederick Fitzgerald. At the same time you were there with Jane Pearce now known as Jane Townsend. Nothing was going on with you and Jane so why were you travelling with her?" Ros already knew the answer. Terry smirked.

"Ask her."

"Oh we will." Ros nodded. The door to the Interview Room burst open as Harry marched in. Seconds later Terry was pinned up against the far wall as Harry gripped him by the throat.

"Harry." Lucas walked towards the two middle aged men as Ros hit the panic button on the wall to alert security. "HARRY!"

"You tried to kill my wife." Harry was centimeters away from his face. "You did kill James."

"I." Terry shifted to drag oxygen into his lungs. Ros was at Harry's side in seconds.

"Harry, you don't need to do this." Ros warned. She was ignored as Harry kept his eyes firmly on Terry's.

"Come at me through my family one more time and you'll pray to God I strangled you here today." He released him as he slumped to the floor. Harry stood over him as Terry rubbed his neck and smirked.

"See?" Ros shook her head as Terry scrambled to his feet. "You attack Section D and we tend to take offence. Now, where is Christian McCarthy and what is the threat to the conference next week?"

"Ask her."

"Who?" Harry kept silent as Lucas asked. He watched his former colleague squirm under his gaze.

"Connie."

"Connie James?" Ros asked. "Bit difficult, unless you know a bloody good psychic." The colour drained from Terry's face. "She died about four years ago." Ros explained. "So you need another scapegoat."

"No." Terry glared at Harry. "Unless, unless he did it. I always thought it was Harry but maybe it was him."

"Names." Harry snapped. "Now."

"Fitzgerald. He set me up. If it wasn't Connie then it had to be him." Harry glanced at Ros before turning on his heel and marching out of the room. Lucas and Ros exchanged glances before following him out of the room.

######################

A/N Thanks for the kind reviews. More soon x


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer not mine**

**The Visit.**

Ruth smiled as Gracie wrapped her little arms around the soft toy Malcolm had bought her. The baby slept peacefully as Ruth watched.

"She's fine." Catherine smiled. "As good as gold."

"And Nick?"

"Still obsessed with football." Catherine smiled. "He's trying to teach Charlie the offside rule."

"Really? Does anyone understand that?" Ruth smiled. She knew her adopted son had only recently become a football fanatic. Man City seemed to be the team of choice, mainly because his friends followed them. Graham was still trying to convert him to Chelsea.

"No." Catherine rolled her eyes. "But he's your son, so he'll keep trying until he does." Ruth smiled as she thought of the teenager. "You're going to the prison. Aren't you? You're going to see my mother?"

"Yes." Ruth sighed. "I have to."

"Why?"

"There was a case, back in the mid 1990s that she may have information on. I don't want your Dad to go."

"No, keep them apart at all costs."

"Was it really that bad?" Ruth walked over to the sofa as her step daughter nodded. She ran a hand through her blonde hair while Ruth waited.

"Yes, Mum always had a temper. I was a real Daddy's girl."

"Still are." Graham stated as he walked in. Catherine raised an eyebrow while Scarlet curled up at his feet.

"Anyway, they argued. A lot." Catherine sighed. "I hated it. I really hated it but Dad would send me away. He didn't want us to see how bad it got. But we heard."

"Yeah." Graham ran a hand over his face. The gesture so like Harry that Ruth had to smile. "Didn't he tell you?"

"No." Ruth bit her lip. "No, he said he was unfaithful but that she was too."

"Yeah, well that's true." Catherine nodded once as Graham spoke.

"For a long time I thought the raised voices and everything was Dad hitting her. Had no idea it was the other way around." Graham looked at the floor. "If I had known."

"He didn't want us to." Catherine sighed. "It's only because I sneaked back downstairs once that I found out. He'd rather us think the worse of him than know what she is really like." Ruth blinked back tears as she thought of the woman who Harry had once been married to. Shaking her head she got to her feet.

"Be careful. I'll only ask her what I need to know."

"I'll come with you." Graham stated.

"No." Ruth rested a hand on his arm. "Stay here, with your brother and sisters, please Gray." He nodded as he watched her leave, only hoping his mother would decide to tell his step mum the truth.

#########################

"What the Hell just happened?" Ros snapped as she walked alongside Harry through the corridors below Thames House.

"He killed James, tried to kill Ruth. That is what happened there." Harry turned as both his junior officers stopped behind him. Lucas remained silent, watching his boss.

"Harry." Ros tried again. "We need to know where the bomb is going to be planted. The trade conference is in three days. It looks like they are trying to copy what happened in Belfast twenty years ago."

"He never was that original." Harry narrowed his eyes. "Someone changed the reports on Operation Sunflower. I want to know why and who."

"It was twenty years ago." Lucas stated. "It wont be easy to find out." Harry nodded once before heading into the lift that would take him back to the Grid.

#################

June 1994

The rain bounced over the pavement as Juliet walked towards the cake shop. She hated everything about being in Ireland. She was desperate to get home, to return to being Juliet Shaw and not her alias. She dug her hands in her pocket and watched as she saw Christian McCarthy leaning against the shop window.

"Hello." He smiled at her as she felt her blood run cold.

"We open in another hour."

"I can wait." He looked her up and down as she narrowed her eyes.

"Good. Well, wait over there." She nodded to the bench across the road. "I've work to do."

"Aye." He nodded. "I might just do that. I am going to wait for that lazy arse brother of yours."

"Declan is not lazy. He is many things but not that." Juliet sighed before putting her key in the door. Christian nodded once before walking away.

"So I'm told." He laughed. "So I'm told."

############################

June 2013

Ruth looked up at the imposing grey building as Malcolm waited in the car for her. She knew Catherine had visited the prison recently, Jane knew about Catherine and Calum getting engaged. Graham hadn't visited for longer, afraid his mother would lead him into drinking again. She sighed heavily before walking in and flashing her ID badge to the guard.

"I've come to see Jane Townsend." Ruth watched as the burly man held her gaze.

"Right." He nodded. "Lady Pearce. Um, can you wait here a moment?" Ruth nodded, knowing that the security in the women's prison would be notoriously high. Seconds later a man in a grey Saville Row suit appeared.

"Lady Pearce?"

"Mrs Pearce." Ruth corrected. "My husband earned the title, not me."

"Are you a friend or relative of the inmate in question?"

"And you are?" Ruth was in no mood to answer questions. Part of her wished she had told Harry where she had gone. The man in front of her smiled slightly.

"Peter Mitchell." He extended his hand. "Prison Governor." Ruth shook his hand. "Look, Mrs Pearce you may want to come into my office. I feel you should be sat down when you hear what I have to say."

"I'm fine as I am." Ruth narrowed her eyes, instantly wary.

"Please?" He gestured towards a small interview room on the side of the main reception. Ruth followed him and waited.

"We have tried to locate her next of kin. The Ministry of Defence don't like to reveal the location of its staff."

"I am the step mother of her children." Ruth stated. She knew there was no way MI-5 or 6 would have given her or Catherine's real locations or occupation. Her stomach knotted as she waited to hear what the man in the expensive suit had to say.

"Jane Townsend died at 8 am this morning. A report is being prepared for the coroner." Mitchell stated bluntly. Ruth stared at him for a moment as the words sunk in.

"How?"

"She committed suicide. The body was still in the cell." He stated.

"How does an inmate on maximum security commit suicide?" Ruth asked. "You know why she was in prison?"

"Of course." He glared back. "She was not on suicide watch. Guards found her this morning. First aid was attempted and an ambulance was called."

Ruth listened intently, unsure of what she was going to say. Jane just hadn't seemed to be the type to end her own life. It seemed totally out of character from the woman she had met, from the woman Catherine and Graham had told her about. Minutes later she heard herself insisting that she saw the body, knowing that it would be her that told Harry and the children. It was not something she was sure she had the strength to do.

#####################

Dimitri stared at the computer screen over Tariq's shoulder. The Grid was still a hive of organised chaos. Erin picked up the phone as Ruth walked back on to the Grid and headed straight for Harry's office.

"Ruth?" Dimitri called. "Where's Beth?"

"With Joan." Ruth smiled slightly. "She's fine."

"Thanks." Dimitri smiled, glad that Ruth understood how he worried about the petite blonde. Ruth looked around the Grid, properly for the first time.

"I thought Henry and Juliet were here."

"They were." Calum stated. "Alec is taking them to a safe house now. Zaf's gone with him."

"Right." Ruth bit her lip. "Harry?"

"Went to find Ros and Lucas." Zoe stated. "They were interviewing Terry."

"Oh God." Ruth knew there was no way Harry should have been left in a room with the former spook. "And now?"

"I don't know." Lucas answered honestly. Ros' eyes flickered up once. Ruth took the hint and headed towards the fire-escape that led to the roof.

########################

"Follow the money." Tariq sighed. "Not so easy when the transactions are twenty years old."

"Don't give up." Malcolm sighed as he took his place at the computer.

"There was nothing in the way of internet banking back then. No one really used credit cards like today." Tariq closed his eyes.

"Yes, but there was a paper trail. Even in those days there was a paper trail. I've had a little look at the bank accounts of those involved. Terry O Callaghan's bank account was terminated when he was convicted. The same goes for the McCarthy brothers. But that doesn't mean we can't see how the money for the explosives and criminal activities changed hands."

"Malcolm." Calum smiled. "You are a genius."

"I." Malcolm blushed as Zoe smiled.

"He's right." Zoe stated. "We need to go through the paper records. Electronic banking was in its infancy twenty years ago."

"I'm a gadget man." Calum smirked as Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I'll leave the paper trail to you."

################################

Harry stared out over the city watching the lights below. He ignored the light drizzle that swamped the city as memories of twenty years ago came back to him.

"Harry?" Ruth stepped closer.

"Hi." He turned to face her. "Are you ok?"

"Yes." She smiled. "A bit light headed but I'm ok." Ruth reached his side and leant her head on his shoulder. Harry stayed silent for a moment, enjoying the warmth of her body next to his. Ruth watched the lights over the city.

"Ruth."

"I went to the prison. I wanted to ask Jane about what happened. Why she was in Belfast in April 1994. I wanted to know what was going on with her and Fitzgerald. I know he's involved in this." The words tumbled out of her mouth as Harry's eyes closed.

"And what did she say?" Harry had known sooner or later his ex-wife would have to be spoken to. Her affair with Fitzgerald was beginning to be seen as a major factor in the case.

"Nothing." Ruth paused. "I think Fitzgerald was involved in framing Terry. I think he pushed him into a position with the McCarthy's that he couldn't get out of. His police statement at the time says as much. Only he blamed you."

"I know he did." Harry swallowed hard. "You think Fitzgerald was using Jane because of me? Seeing if I was foolish enough to spill the beans at home?"

"Maybe." Ruth sighed.

"What did she say, Ruth? Ruth?"

"She didn't say anything." Ruth couldn't meet his eye. "I was too late."

"Ruth." His voice washed over her, laced with concern.

"She died this morning. I spoke with the prison governor. He told me she committed suicide."

Harry was silent for a long moment, taking Ruth's words in. His ex wife was dead. The mother of his older children gone. He shook his head. Sorry for the loss Catherine and Graham didn't know about, sorry for having to be the one that would break their hearts again.

"No, she wouldn't do that." Harry spoke quietly. "Not her."

"That's what I thought." Ruth agreed. "I didn't know her like you did. But."

"Shit." Harry looked up, his voice cracked slightly. Ruth looked away. "What do I tell the kids?"

Ruth bit her lip and tried not to read more into Harry's voice than the obvious concern for his children. Jane had been an intelligent but ultimately fiery and violent woman with a nasty temper. She had no idea what Harry had seen in her, but that didn't change the fact Catherine and Graham were about to have their lives turned upside down again. For that Ruth felt guilty, even though she had no idea why. As Harry turned and pulled her into his arms she closed her eyes and sighed, aware that now Jane was dead there was no way they'd ever know the extent of her treachery. She just hoped they found out the truth before anyone else died.

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A/N More soon. Please let me know what you think.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer not mine Reviews have really dried up so I hope this chapter is more liked. Mostly Harry/Ruth.**

**Secrets and Lies.**

June 1994

Juliet stared at the man through the shop windows. She knew Harry thought he was the mole at the garage. Christian McCarthy was the only man who had the know-how to obtain the explosives and set them up at the trade conference. She ignored the cake shop owner as the pieces began to fall together in her mind.

"Are you ok?" She was startled from her thoughts by the woman who ran the shop. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I don't feel so well. "Juliet answered honestly.

"You get off home, then luv." The middle aged woman stated. "No good to me if you faint on the buns!"

"Thanks." Juliet sighed before picking up her coat and heading out into the rain. She knew McCarthy would be waiting for her, she only hoped she could convince the man any doubts he had about her and her 'brother' were unfounded.

#####################

June 2013

"I can't believe it." Harry looked away. "Jane was capable of many things but she would never kill herself."

"You knew her." Ruth watched as his face changed.

"I thought I did. Once."

"And it wouldn't be the first time someone has tried to pass off a death as suicide rather than murder." Ruth answered quietly. Harry closed his eyes as he thought about Ruth's words.

"You think she was murdered?" Harry's voice remained low, barely above a whisper. Ruth nodded once.

"Yes." Ruth sighed. "I think it stinks, to use one of Tariq's phrases. Jane died in prison, the govoner was looking for her children to inform them. She was still married to Richard."

"Yes." Harry closed his eyes. "He's still serving time."

"Who would want to kill her?" Ruth bit her lip and looked down. "Jane was in prison, she couldn't touch anyone."

"Can you hack into the prison records? See who visited her before she died? I need to know if she really took her own life. For Catherine and Graham more than anything."

"Ok." Ruth squeezed his hand. "Ok." She turned and walked away, heading back towards the Grid. He knew she would be the only one who could find out the truth. He only hoped the truth wasn't as dark as he feared it to be.

###############

June 1994

"Not working." Christian followed Juliet as she headed towards the bus stop. The rain showed no signs of abating.

"Clearly." Juliet snapped.

"And I thought you were going to keep me waiting all day." He smiled as he fell into step next to her. Juliet did her best to ignore him. "I want you to give Declan a message from me. You see he missed our drink last night."

"Did he? I'm not my brother's keeper." Juliet snapped. Christian laughed as she finally reached the bus stop.

"Aye, I can see that." He stepped closed to her and produced a knife from the inside of his jacket. "Tell him, you're far too pretty to be on the recieving end of his mistakes. You tell him to be where we said at 9pm." The knife grazed the side of her face as she glared at him. Seconds later he was gone. Juliet narrowed her eyes as she watched him walk away. She shook slightly as she made a mental note to contact Henry before things got out of hand.

##########################

June 2013

"He isn't going to tell us anything." Lucas stated as Ros looked up from her desk. She knew Lucas was right.

"He will." Ros snapped. "Any news on Christian McCarthy?"

"Not yet." Adam stated. "Calum is going through footage from the airports and ferry terminals. Should find him if he's on the mainland. Ruth has a face recognition programme running."

"Everyone! Briefing room now." Harry barked as he appeared in his office doorway. The assembled spooks began preparing to leave the main Grid. Ruth ignored the rest of the team as she tapped a few keys on the computer. Seconds later the visitor log for the prison ran along her screen.

"Come on." Ruth bit her bottom lip. Names of various women that were current inmates scrolled along. Jane's name seemed to be one of the last to appear. Several names appeared next to her name. Catherine Pearce. Julian Morgan. Her solicitor. Ruth thought to herself. "Oh no. Not him." Ruth's eyes fixed on the one name she knew would appear but wished it wouldn't. _Fitzgerald. _

"Ruth." Zaf appeared next to her. "I think he meant he wants us all in the Briefing Room."

"Um?" Ruth kept her eyes on the screen. "I'm coming."

"Ruth?"

"Zaf." Ruth smiled slightly. "I'll be there in a minute. This is important."

"Why was Fitzgerald visiting Jane?" Zaf asked as he read over her shoulder.

"I don't know." Ruth sighed. "I wish I did. It might explain why she died."

"What?" Zaf stared at her. "Harry's ex is dead."

"Yes." Ruth sighed. "It isn't common knowledge yet."

"How did Harry take it?" Zaf asked as Adam called his name. Dimitri looked out of the Briefing Room, clearly curious as to why the two friends were still huddled over the computer when the rest of the team were in the Briefing Room.

"Not good." Ruth sighed. "I don't like this. It's like Fitzgerald is trying to remove any trace of his time in Ireland. We know he was there for MI6. We know he was having an affair with Jane. What we don't know is what that has to do with Harry and Juliet or the trade conference."

"Ruth! Zafar!" Harry called from the doorway of the Briefing Room. Zaf rolled his eyes as she pushed her chair away form her desk and headed towards the Briefing Room. Zaf sighed as he followed her, wondering just how bad things were going to get.

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A/N just a filler chapter. Please review


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Thanks for the reviews. **

**Home Truths.**

Ruth pushed her chair away from her desk and followed Zaf into the Briefing Room. The rest of the team were assembled in their usual places. Alec continued to master the art of looking monumentally bored. She ignored him and sat in her customary place next to Zaf and watched as Harry waited for the team to settle down.

"Terry O Callaghan is saying nothing." Ros stated.

"I didn't think he would." Harry ran a hand over his face. "I'll interview him later with you."

"That's what he wants." Lucas stated. Ruth glanced at Harry. She knew he was too emotionally involved in the case but she knew there was no way she was going to get him to take a back seat.

"Ok, what do we know?" Harry snapped. Zaf looked up, aware that Jane's death was not yet common knowledge.

"Henry and Juliet are in the safe house." He stated. "I've got round the clock security on the house. Juliet is still twitchy though."

"And?" Ros deadpanned.

"And her life may be in danger." Harry finished. "Dimitri, Beth I want you both on guard duty. Don't pull a face Elizabeth. I don't trust McCarthy not to turn up and finish what he started."

"Harry?" Ros looked from Ruth to her boss and frowned. "What has happened?"

"There has been a development." Harry stated. "Jane Townsend was found dead in her prison cell this morning."

"Since when did she revert to her maiden name?" Alec asked, suddenly more interested.

"Hardly relevent." Adam snapped. "Harry? How did she die?"

"Suicide." Ruth stated as she raised an eyebrow, knowing none of the team believed it either. "After a visit from an F. Fitzgerald."

"Bloody Hell." Alec snapped. "He's in this up to his neck."

"Yeah." Beth agreed. "But he's head of Internal Affairs. How can we touch him?"

"Beth." Harry twitched the side of his lip into a half-smile. "No one is completely untouchable." Ros pushed herself away from her place next to the wall and walked across to the computer screen.

"We're missing something." She half whispered as she stared at the screen. "Why involve Jane? She was in prison for another ten years at least."

"Tying up loose ends?" Lucas shrugged.

"I've gone through the plans for the trade conference." Ruth spoke calmly, knowing that only those on the team that knew her well would see through it. "And for the ones on record for the Belfast conference in 94. They are eerily similar. I don't like it, there are too many ways it can be compromised."

"Such as?"

"Not letting us be the security for one thing." Erin stated. Ruth smiled slightly.

"There is that." Ruth glanced at her. "But another thing is the lack of security is obvious. There are too many ways it can be compromised. It's like it was an optional extra. In times like this with AQ and other groups wanting to destroy us I don't see how they didn't make sure it was the best. Asking us now, to advise is like bolting the stable door when the horse is halfway around the Grand National."

"Do you think they want to discredit us?" Erin asked.

"Call us in at the last minute, ignore everything we say and then blame us in the media when it all goes tits up?" Calum stated.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "Erin, you and Calum get over there. Read them the Riot Act if necessary. Zoe, contact the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's assistant. Tell her we have to take over security hook, line and sinker or lives may be lost and the Government may well lose face."

" I'll deal with the Home Secretary." Ros stated. "He owes me."

"I dread to think." Harry smirked as Ros raised an eyebrow.

"Ruth?"

"I'm still looking into it." Ruth glanced at her paperwork. "But I don't like it. His name barely appears in any of the reports from 1994. Now, it's seeping in everywhere. It's like someone managed to keep his name out of it back then but isn't doing so now." Ruth bit her lip. "I want to know why he visited Jane and what he said to her."

"I'd settle for knowing how he killed her. And why." Harry answered. Adam and Zaf exchanged glances. Ruth nodded. Harry stepped back, signalling the meeting was over. Ros began assigning tasks to the team as Calum hung back. When the rest of the team filed out of the Briefing Room he hung back.

"Harry?"

"Yes." Harry looked away from the computer.

"Does Catherine know about her Mum?"

"Not yet." Harry sighed. "I want to tell her myself when I know more of the facts." Calum nodded in understanding. He knew what it was like to lose a parent.

"I want to be there when you do. She's pregnant, she doesn't need the stress of not knowing what happened to her mother." Harry nodded, knowing that Calum was right. Upsetting either of his older children was the last thing he wanted to do but he had no other option. There was no way to save them from the hurt and pain of losing their mother. He silentl worried about how Graham would take it. The last thing they needed was for him to relapse back into the drink and drugs.

"Of course." Harry nodded at his future son-in-law. "She's going to need your support."

"She has it. Always." Calum held Harry's gaze before leaving the office. Harry smiled slightly, it seemed his worries about his daughter marrying a spook were unfounded after all.

#####################################

Tariq pressed a few buttons on the computer in front of him as a map disappeared and the grainy image of the Interview Room sprang into life. Ros could be seen clearly as she sat at a desk. O Callaghan sat opposite her, glaring at something or someone the camera was hiding.

"You said you wanted to talk to me." Harry stated calmly. Ruth closed her eyes as she heard her husband's voice through the speakers. "Talk."

"How are you?" Terry smirked. Ros narrowed her eyes. Tariq recognised the look instantly and almost felt sorry for the man it was directed at.

"My well being is none of your concern."

"No? Well, you're blood pressure can't be good with all this going on. And what with Jane passing."

"What do you know about that?" Ros asked. "What was Jane to all of this?"

"Ask Fitzgerald." Terry smirked. "We all knew she was knocking him off. Revenge probably for you shagging Juliet." Harry clenched his fists as he fought to stop himself lashing out. He had never expected to feel grief for Jane, but he did. Along with an overwhelming sense of guilt. He kept his silence and glared at the man he once considered a friend.

"We will." Ros assured him. "Right now, I'm asking you."

"She knew too much." He shrugged his shoulders. "How do you think I was set up? Harry? Honestly, for years I thought it was you and that skinny bitch."

"It wasn't. You shot me, blew my knee cap apart." Harry stated calmly. "You put the bullet in James. Killed him in cold blood. Left those people to die. Even one of the scum that was working with you. Aiden McCarthy didn't deserve that. But then neither did the teenager caught in the blast or the young couple who died."

"A guilt trip wont work on me." Terry smirked. Ros pushed her chair back.

"No." She stated. "A guilt trip, as you put it would be based on the assumption you aren't a psychopath and therefore able to identify and feel an emotion called guilt. I don't believe you do feel guilty."

"Are you calling me a psycho?"

"You always were slow on the uptake." Harry watched as Ros walked around the other side of the table. She crouched to the same level as Terry, the look in her eye, the same as a cat that had just trapped a mouse.

"Sadly for you, it seems you and I are cut from the same cloth." She rested a hand on his arm. "I feel very little guilt about destroying scum like you that kidnap my friends, shoot them and try to act the innocent victim when caught. The girl that died in the 94 explosion? She was eighteen. About to go to uni to study medicine."

"I was set up."

"Oh that old chestnut." Ros got to her feet. "If I had a pound for every time I heard that."

"Go on." Harry folded his arm. "Who set you up?"

"Fitzgerald. He wanted you dead so he could get Jane to marry him. She didn't want you to divorce her for adultery." Harry kept his face neutral, knowing he now had no way to check what Terry was telling him. "Don't you see? I thought it was you that set me up. I was turned in Northern Ireland. That's true. I didn't like what we were doing there, didn't agree with half of what Henry had us do most of the time."

"Terry." Ros warned.

"I didn't shoot James. He was a good bloke. I didn't shoot him."

"The gun was in your hand. The explosives in the van. You turned the gun on Juliet."

"Aye, and you pushed her out the way. If I wanted to kill you I'd have shot you in the head or chest. Not the bloody knee!"

"You did shoot Juliet. She was in hospital for three weeks. I was there for a month." Harry glared at him.

"Sorry about you hitting your head. Never meant for that to happen."

"You never meant for a lot of things. Terry, you are a murderer and a traitor. If you were set up and you know it wasn't me tell me who it was. At least redeem yourself in that small way."

"Fitzgerald. He wanted you dead. He still does. He turned up the day after I got out the Maze. Told me you were here, running your own Section. Told me about your new wife, kids. Said you were on the verge of a new trade conference and shouldn't we make history repeat itself. You couldn't save James back then, we should make it that you couldn't save Ruth now. He knew that would destroy you."

"Is there a bomb set for the Trade Conference?" Ros asked as the colour drained from Harry's face.

"No." Terry sighed. "At least as far as I am aware it's just a scare. He's serious about finishing what he started twenty years ago."

Harry nodded once before turning and walking out the door. Seconds later Ros followed him into the corridor, not surprised to find he had left. Five floors about Ruth threw her headphones on the desk and swore. Harry was gone.

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A/N More soon. Does this story make any sense? Please review


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Torn**

Ruth closed her eyes and tried not to panic. Harry was the consummate spy and would be fine. She kept telling herself, he would be fine. Seconds later Ros walked back onto the Grid.

"Ruth? Tariq?"

"We filmed it all." Tariq stated. Ruth nodded once before returning to her own desk in silence. Ros watched for a moment before heading towards Tariq's desk.

"Has he gone?" Tariq asked. "Harry I mean?"

"I don't know." Ros answered honestly. "Tariq, this is Harry Pearce. He's been doing this since before you were born. He knows what he's doing." Tariq nodded. "The money?"

"Fitzgerald." Tariq spoke quietly. "Is a very rich man. More so than he should be working here."

"So? Where's the money coming from?" Ros frowned.

"I'm working on that." Tariq sighed.

"Ok." Ros nodded. She turned to see Malcolm frowning at the computer screen. "Malcolm?"

"Harry's wearing a wire." Malcolm stated. "I should be able to track him."

Ros paused for a moment before glancing at Ruth. "Do it. Lucas? Adam? With me." Ros walked towards Adam's desk as Zaf headed towards his friend.

######################

It was dark as Harry sat in the driver's seat of his 4x4. The car had always been his pride and joy, out of all the cars he had driven, it was the 4x4 that had stood the test of time. He sank back in the seat as another car drove past. The headlights swam over his car before disappearing into the distance. He got out of the car and headed towards the block of flats, knowing Beth and Dimitri would be watching.

"Harry." He paused as he heard a familiar voice behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"Dimitri." Harry watched as Beth appeared in the background.

"Nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Henry and Juliet are in the flat. Safe and sound."

"I hope so." Harry smiled slightly. "I need to talk to Henry."

"Why?" Beth asked. Harry looked away.

"I need to ask him a few questions. When are Alec and Calum taking over from you?"

"Another half hour." Beth tried her best not to yawn. Harry ignored it, knowing Beth still suffered the after effects of Andrew Lawrence's attack on her the previous year.

"Tell them I am in there. I should be out before they arrive."

"Ok." Dimitri nodded before leading Beth back to the car. Beth looked over her shoulder, wondering what her boss was up to.

#########################

June 1994

It was dark. That was the first thing he remembered. The darkness and the pain that shot through his leg every time he tried to move it. He kept his eyes shut as sirens grew louder. He heard Juliet swearing as she shook his shoulder, forcing him to acknowledge her presence.

"Ambulance on the way." She gasped as she held her side. Blood seeped through the thin fabric.

"Jules." He gasped through the pain.

"The RUC have arrested McCarthy and Terry." Juliet gasped. "He killed James. Harry." She paused as Harry lifted his hand to his head.

"Jules, you're bleeding." Harry stated as Juliet rested her head back against the wall. A young police officer was talking on his radio, asking the paramedics to hurry up.

"Noticed that." Harry smirked as Juliet snapped at him. "I am going to kill Henry when I get my hands on him." She snapped.

"Wait your turn." Harry gasped as he looked down at his shattered knee. The next thing he knew the world turned black.

####################

June 2013

"Henry." Harry walked into the small flat as the old man looked up. Juliet was nowhere to be seen. "Where is she?"

"Harry." Henry got to his feet. "To what do I deserve this honour at such a late hour?"

"Where is Juliet?"

"Bedroom. Sleeping I shouldn't wonder." Henry narrowed his eyes as Harry say down.

"You had an affair with Connie."

"Aye." He nodded. "I should have known better. My Valarie would have left me on the spot, had she known." He shook his head. "I didn't deserve her."

"No you didn't." Harry snapped. "You had the cheek to warn me over Juliet and you were having a fling with her."

"Do as I say. Not as I do." Henry sighed. "It was a long time ago. Connie's dead, let the girl rest."

"It's not Connie I'm here about." Harry stated calmly. "It's Frederick Fitzgerald. How long was it before you knew about him blackmailing Terry? About his affair with Jane?"

"You'll have to ask Jane about her affair with that man." Henry narrowed his eyes. "Listen,"

"No. You listen." Harry ran a hand over his face. "I'm tired of all this. Tired of people I care about, people I love being hurt by what happened back then. Jane is dead and if you believe she killed herself then you are more fool than I thought you were."

"Jane's dead? Your ex wife?" Both men turned to see Juliet in the doorway of the living room. Harry nodded once. "How?"

"I believe she was murdered." Harry stated. "I think Henry does too."

"Ok." Juliet frowned, trying to work out what was going on. "You think people are being picked off? Ruth attacked to keep you quiet. Jane dead. Who's next? Me? Henry? You?"

"No one." Harry snapped as he got to his feet. "You have to believe that."

"I don't. I was the one that warned that nasty piece of work off. What if he had already turned Terry? What if he and Terry have planned all this? I mean, be realistic. What is there to suggest Terry was set up?" She held his gaze as Harry mulled over her words.

"Stay here."

"You said people you love are in danger." Juliet leant heavily on one crutch. "What about the people I love? Alec? Henry's family?"

"Alec can take care of himself." Harry smiled slightly. "And don't worry. I wont tell you care."

"I don't." Juliet snapped before turning a shade of red he didn't know her to be capable of. "I. Oh Harry, shut up."

"Careless love eh?" He paraphrased her comment from years earlier. "I have to go. For once, do as you were told and stay where you are. Same goes for you Henry."

"Once upon a time I gave the orders." Henry grumbled.

"And look where that got us." Juliet huffed before heading back to the bedroom. Henry raised an eyebrow as Harry shook his head.

"I'll be in touch." Harry walked towards the door, knowing he was no nearer to knowing the truth than when he had walked in the door. There was only one thing for it. He had to talk to Fitzgerald himself.

################

"Ros." Adam frowned as she leant against the wall of the Briefing Room. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly."

"You want us to actively go after the head of Internal Affairs."

"Yes." Ros glanced from one to the other. Lucas smiled slightly. He knew exactly when his wife was being deadly serious. Adam shook his head.

"If this goes wrong."

"I'll get the sack and you'll have your old job back." Ros stared at him. "I don't see what your problem is."

"What if we're wrong?"

"We're not." Lucas stated. "Anyway, Terry has given us reasonable excuse to look around. At least we look in his bins."

"Bins, bank accounts, telephone records, GCHQ chatter, personal relationships. The works." Ros held Adam's gaze. "If you are not up for this."

"Oh I'm up for it. I just don't know what Harry would make of it." Adam shrugged. "His ex wife is dead. It's personal to him."

"Of course it is." Lucas nodded. "But we can't let that get in the way of preventing another attack." Ros ran a hand through her short blonde hair as the door to the Briefing Room burst open.

"Calum." Lucas smirked. "You're getting as bad as Tariq."

"I'll take that as an insult." Calum glared. "Alec and I are off to babysit the Odd Couple. Harry's back." He watched as the shock kicked in. "Says he hadn't 'gone dark'. He's in the office with Ruth."

"Ah." Lucas glanced as Ros nodded once.

"That should be interesting. It's a long time since I saw Ruth so upset." Adam stated. "Zaf is worried about her."

########################

"Ruth." Zaf glanced as the doors to the Pods opened to reveal Harry. He ignored all of them before heading for his office. Ruth kept her eyes firmly on the computer screen in front of her.

"He's alive." Zaf smiled. "Look, me and Zoe are going to pick Christian McCarthy up tomorrow morning. I'm going to take Calum and Erin as back up."

"Ok." Ruth knew it was part of the plan. "There's nothing more we can do here tonight. Go home Zaf. Spend some time with Zoe and the kids."

"I will." Zaf smiled before pushing his chair away from the desk. "Don't be too hard on him." He nodded towards Harry's office as Ruth got to her feet. She sighed and nodded once before heading towards the office and walking in unannounced. Zaf smiled sadly, hoping Harry's past and it's after effects weren't going to destroy the present.

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A/N Please review :D They really do make the writing better.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer not mine - reviews have really dropped off, so I will be wrapping this story up in the next couple of chapters. This chapter is mainly Harry and Ruth.**

**Facing the past**

Harry sat at his desk and watched as Ruth closed the office door behind her. She was quieter than he remembered seeing her in a while.

"Ruth."

"Harry." She leant against the office door and watched as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked exhausted, like a man that had the world on his shoulders and it was slipping. "The others have gone home. There's nothing more that can be done tonight."

"What did she know?" Harry looked up as Ruth sighed. "How do I tell Catherine and Graham?"

"Oh Harry." She shook her head. "I don't know. She was their mother. I know they had issues but she was their mother, nothing can change that."

"Will you be there?" Harry looked up as tears filled Ruth's eyes.

"No. I think this is something you need to do alone. With them." Ruth sat in the chair opposite him, the desk dividing them. She reached across and took his hand in hers, linking their fingers together. "I'll take Nic and Gracie out, explain it all to Nic. As much as I can. This affects your past. Yours and the kids. Having me and the younger ones there may just make matters worse."

"How can things get worse?" Harry sighed. Ruth looked away for a moment.

"Harry."

"I knew." Harry looked up. "I knew she was unfaithful. I was hardly a saint either, you know that."

"I know." Ruth met his eyes. "You have to be honest with me. I know there are a some things you can't tell me but when it comes to things like this. Things that might destroy us. I need to know." Ruth kept her voice low as Harry avoided her eyes, staring at their hands still joined.

"Jane is dead." Harry sighed. "I."

"And Juliet is back in our lives. I know she has never really gone but how many more? How many more damsels in distress are going to crawl out of the woodwork? How many more Juliet's? Elena Gavriks?"

"No more." Harry squeezed her hand. "Are you jealous?"

"No." Ruth sighed. "Scared, not jealous. You know all about my past, we've been together for three years and there is still so much I don't know about you. What about you. Things I can't know."

"Ruth." Harry had no idea what to do or say.

"I'm sorry Jane was killed. I want to find the person responsible for her death." Ruth stated firmly. "But when you disappear. When you vanish like you did today." She looked away.

"You worry." Harry spoke gently. "I'm sorry Ruth."

He stood, walking to the other side of the desk. Ruth kept her eyes on the spot where Harry had been. He crouched next to the desk and touched her face, forcing her to look at him. "I am sorry."

"I don't want you to be sorry." Ruth swallowed. "You told me, you said things happened back then that would change how I felt about you, if I knew."

"I."

"I need to know, Harry. I need to know what is coming back to haunt us. Terry said Fitzgerald was waiting for him the day he was released from the Maze. Why? Why would he be waiting? Why would he kill Jane? He is head of Internal Affairs. He has sat opposite you in JIC meetings for years. Why now?"

"Revenge is best served cold." Harry swallowed. "I am not proud of the man I was."

"You say these things." Ruth sighed. "The man you was isn't who I married. I married you now. The man you are now is Gracie and Nic's dad, Charlie's grandpa." He looked away. "So why would your past affect now?"

"I never thought it would." Harry sighed. "Not until now."

"I don't understand. I don't understand. This is me, Harry. I've analysed this, like I've analysed everything else in my life and I don't understand why you aren't telling me everything."

"In 1994 we were sent to Belfast to infiltrate a group that would bomb the trade conference that was being held between some of the G8 countries."

"I know that."

"I knew that." Ruth stated.

"What I didn't know was that Jane and Fitzgerald were plotting to have me killed." Harry watched as her eyes widened. "I should have been the one that was killed, not James. He took my place and paid for it."

"What?" Ruth stared at him.

"My marriage was over in all but name. I didn't want to get a divorce, Catherine and Graham were so young. I didn't want them to be from a broken home."

Ruth watched as he spoke quietly.

"James went to the meet instead of me. I was trying to contact Henry, warn him I thought Terry was on the blink. I wanted him to take me seriously but I had to make the meet. I don't think they were expecting James to turn up. Or find the explosives."

"Oh God." Ruth mumbled as he looked away.

"It should be me. McCarthy took the explosives to the meet. That's what he was convicted of, supplying explosives. Fitzgerald blackmailed Terry into shooting James. Fitzgerald thought it would be me there, James took the bullet that was meant for me." Ruth turned as his voice fell. "I think that's why Jane died. I think Fitzgerald knew Terry would tell me the truth, eventually and that Jane would co-oberate his story. After all, it was twenty years ago and she was already in prison."

"So she had nothing to lose by telling the truth." Ruth whispered. Her hands came to rest on his face, the thumbs brushing along the five o clock shadow that was there. "Harry, nothing you said changes how I feel. Nothing you could ever say would do that." She kissed him gently as his hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. The kiss deepened as Harry poured all the emotion and fear he felt into the kiss. Ruth was the first to pull away.

"Harry, we have to go home." She pulled him to his feet.

"I have to talk to Graham and Catherine." Harry sighed. "I."

"I'll be there Harry. The past can't touch us, not now." She leant in and let him hold her knowing neither of them would sleep that night.

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A/N More soon x


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer still not mine**

**Night Terrors**

Adam ran a hand over his face. He was exhausted but knew that the case was far from over. Fitzgerald was now a legitimate target but O'Callaghan was the type to sell his grandmother to get what he wanted. He looked up as Carrie walked into the kitchen with Isabella in her arms.

"Hi." She smiled.

"Hey, you two." He stood up. "Wes?"

"Sleeping. That rugby tournament has worn him out." Carrie smiled. "You ok?"

"Yeah." Adam yawned.

"I know you can't tell me what's going on." She sat opposite him at the kitchen table as Isabella closed her eyes. "Just tell me you are safe."

"I am at the moment." He smiled as his wife rolled her eyes. "It's just complicated. That's all."

"Adam." She sighed. "Sleep. You are no good to any of the others if you are half asleep. I know enough about what you do to know people's lives depend on you being on the ball." She stood up, walked to the other side of the table before kissing his forehead.

"What did I do to deserve you?" He smiled as he got to his feet.

"Not a clue." Carrie smiled before walking out of the kitchen and heading to their bedroom. Adam sighed as he watched her, knowing she was right. The next morning he'd be with Calum and Dimitri going through Fitzgerald's bin bags. It wasn't something he was looking forward to.

##############

"Dad." Graham opened the door as Harry walked up the steps to the front door. Ruth was slightly ahead of him, both almost asleep on their feet.

"What is it?" Ruth asked as Harry frowned.

"You better come in. Catherine is not herself, we've had some news. Terri is with the kids." He stepped back into the hallway as Ruth and Harry followed. "I've called Calum."

"The baby?" Ruth asked.

"I think the baby is ok. Nick, Grace and Charlie are asleep." Graham reassured them. "It's mum."

"Oh God." Harry stepped into the living room to see Catherine sat with the laptop in front of her.

"Catherine." Ruth stated calmly as Harry sat next to his daughter. Graham ran a hand through his hair. "Talk to me."

"I hacked into the prison database. Mum had visitors we never even knew about." Catherine kept her eyes on the screen but it was clear she had been crying. "The usual ones are there. Me, her solicitor, Ruth. But then we knew Ruth was going to see her. Who's F. Fitzgerald and why was he going to see my mother?" She turned to face Harry. He held his gaze for a moment.

"Catherine, Graham I need you to sit down and listen to me." Harry spoke softly.

"We know." Graham stated. "The prison govenor called this afternoon. We had no idea if you knew or if her husband did."

"Why?" Catherine looked up. "Why would she kill herself? I just don't see it."

"Neither do I." Graham sighed. Harry glanced at Ruth for a second as Terri walked in the room.

"Charlie is sleeping in Gracie's room." Ruth smiled slightly in thanks as her step-son's fiance crossed the room and let Graham hug her.

"For the record." Harry stated. "Neither do I. Fitzgerald is an employee of MI5 and he is also a former partner of your mother."

"What?" Catherine stared at him. "You think he did it? How? Why?"

"That's what we're trying to work out." Ruth paused, aware that Terri had left to answer the door. "Nothing can be done tonight. We will get to the bottom of this. You know we will."

"Yeah." Graham nodded, tears filling his eyes. "Yeah. Doesn't bring her back though, does it?" Ruth shook her head, her heart breaking for him and his sister. Harry ran a hand over his face, suddenly feeling every day of his age. Catherine bit her lip as Calum walked in.

"Hey." He was at her side in seconds. No one noticed Ruth slip out of the room, leaving the family to grieve.

##########################

Ros stared out of the bedroom window in silence. She knew Dimitri and Adam were due to lift Fitzgerald's bins in less than four hours. Calum and Tariq had hacked his employment records while Malcolm had worked out a listening device so small that even an accomplished spook wouldn't be able to find.

"Kids are out for the count." Lucas approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. Ros rested her head back against his shoulder but remained silent. "Ros?"

"We've missed something." She spoke quietly.

"What?"

"I have no idea. But something isn't right. Fitzgerald is under surveilance. O Callaghan is locked up. McCarthy? Has anyone even looked at him? His brother died in the explosion. He has enough reason to hate us. Enough reason to try to finish what he started back then." Lucas tightened his hold on her and kissed her neck. "Lucas."

"The trade conference will go ahead. It wont happen again."

"People died." Ros sighed. "Why would Fitzgerald want to kill Harry? Why would McCarthy and O'Callaghan want to stage it all again?"

"I don't know." Lucas closed his eyes as Ros breated deeply. "All I know is it doesn't matter what their reasons are. We aren't going to let them get away with it."

"I'll get Zoe and Zaf to follow McCarthy." Ros mumbled. "Erin can go as back up. From what we know Christian McCarthy fancies himself as a ladies man. We can use that to our advantage. I..." She paused as Lucas turned her in his arms.

"Ros. The children are asleep." Ros nodded. "There is nothing more we can do tonight, apart from sleep." He watched as she raised an eyebrow. "Well, there is that." He smirked.

"Lucas."

"Yeah?" He sighed as she slipped her hand into his.

"Twenty years ago this was a botched terrorist attack and a useless attempt at killing Harry." She watched as Lucas nodded. "It's not going to happen again."

########################################

Ruth picked up her mobile to read a text from Zaf. It seemed her old friend was worried about her. She couldn't help but smile. Somewhere along the line there had been a mix up, she was sure of it. Her and Zaf should have been siblings. He was like the brother she never had. She ran a finger along Gracie's soft brown curls before checking the baby monitor and heading into the bedroom. She had been right to leave Harry with his older children. There was no place for her there while they were grieving their mother. She wasn't needed. Not now, that would come later. Slipping into bed she stared up at the ceiling and blinked back a tear.

"Ruth." Harry slid into bed beside her. "Are you awake?"

"No." Ruth kept her eyes closed, unsure how long she had been in bed. "What time is it?"

"Two am. Graham and Terri have gone home. Catherine and Calum are downstairs." Ruth turned on her side to see Harry watching her.

"Are you ok?"

"No." Harry answered honestly. "If I think about it, I'm not ok. We have to find McCarthy and get that bug into Fitzgerald's London flat." Ruth nodded before resting a hand on Harry's chest.

"And we will. Beth is going to replace his cleaner tomorrow. We'll put a stop to this." Ruth closed her eyes as Harry wrapped her in his arms. He could only hope she was right.

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A/N Back to the action in the next chapter. Please review


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Bin Day**

Dimitri picked up the black bin bag and threw it in the back of the waste lorry that was ambling along the smart West London street. He glanced to his left to see Adam doing the same thing. Neither men were particularly enjoying their day with the council bin men. Minutes later Adam picked up the black bag they had been looking for and handed it to Calum who threw it into the boot of his car before driving off. He knew the contents would be analysed to within an inch of its life once it was back at the Grid.

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"Hiya." Beth smiled as the tall thin man opened the front door. "Spick and Span cleaners."

"You are not the usual people who are sent." Fitzgerald glanced at a heavily made up Beth. "You look familiar."

"Im not surprised. I filled in for May last year when she went on holiday. It's ok I've signed the Act." She smiled as he raised an eyebrow. For a moment she was certain her cover had been blown. Glancing at the tall thin man she couldn't help the stammer that returned.

"It's ok." She heard Malcolm in her earpiece. "He's bought it."

"Right, well. I have some business to attend to, so I'll leave you to it." He walked away as his driver pulled the large black car in front of the house. Beth closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief as he drove away.

"Beth, put the camera in the living room. Anywhere you think he is going to talk freely."

"I'll leave the toilet out then." Beth stated calmly as she worked her way around the house. Malcolm rolled his eyes as Tariq tried not to burst out laughing.

##########

"I don't get it." Ros stated as she sat in an unmarked pool car opposite the B&B they knew Christian McCarthy was staying in. Lucas shrugged his shoulders but remained quiet. It was the second time they had the same conversation since midnight. He didn't understand it either.

"Adam and Dimitri will have lifted the bin bags now. Zaf and Zoe are following Fitzgerald."

"I know." She stated. "I don't think either of those two will have crossed paths with Infernal Affairs in the last couple of years. He may not recognise them. Beth will be the worry. She was on the Grid when he walked in. Hopefully he was so full of himself that he didn't notice the junior officers."

"Hopefully."

"Right." Ros nodded towards the door of the B&B as Christian McCarthy walked out of the building and lit a cigarette.

"Filthy habit." Lucas smiled.

"Yeah." Ros agreed. "Just the type of filthy habit that leaves DNA everywhere without us needing a warrant to get it."

"Ros."

"Stay here." She glanced at him as he shook his head. Seconds later she was out of the car and headed towards the heavily tattooed Irish man. McCarthy turned and watched her for a moment, clearly liking what he saw. Ros flashed him her best charm smile, barely managing to keep the nausea at bay. She hadn't smoked in years and the smell of cigarettes only served to remind her of Jo. Seeing McCarthy light another wasn't really helping. Lucas watched the exchange carefully, knowing Ros still hadn't been in the field since her time at the hands of Harrison.

"You alright there luv?" McCarthy asked.

Ros nodded. "Looking for a friend of mine. Well, my husband's friend really." Ros lied fluently.

"Aye, and who might that be?"

"Declan." She watched as his eyes clouded over. "Not sure of his surname, mid 50s, bit bald." Ros knew Harry would either be laughing at her description of him or furious. She held McCarthy's glare as she spoke. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't ring any bells with me."

"No? Never mind. I was told he might be staying here and when I saw you on the doorstep I thought I'd ask." She turned and began to walk away. "I'll just have to ask Terry next time I see him."

"Terry?"

"Terry O Callaghan. I see him now and again. He was big friends with my husband back in there." She looked at the floor. "Back in prison."

"Is that so? I've spent some time at Her Majesty's pleasure myself. What nick was he in?"

"I'd rather not say." Ros watched as genuine curiosity crossed the older man's face. "It's not something you broadcast. He wasn't exactly inside for petty theft."

"Neither was I luv."

"Well, you understand my reluctance then." Ros did her best to act the nervous wall flower. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have disturbed you."

"You say you know Terry. I was inside with a Terry O Callaghan. He was a mate. Say hello to him from me."

"I will." Ros tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I don't even know your name."

"Chris McCarthy. You?"

"Sarah North." Ros lied fluently, dropping her first name out of the story. "I need to get back, pick the kids up."

"Why you looking for this Declan?" Ros looked over the street, knowing she had at least got the old man's interest. Lucas was watching the scene from the safety of his car and she knew he hated every second of it. She turned back to Christian.

"Because I think he may know where my husband is." Ros dug her hands in her jacket pockets and shrugged. "No way I can get a divorce if I can't find him." McCarthy nodded.

"How will finding Declan help?"

"He may know where my good for nothing ex is." Ros kept up the lie.

"If I see him? How do I get in touch with you?"

"I have babysitters tonight. I'll be in the Star at five." She nodded towards the pub on the corner. McCarthy smiled at her before clapping her on the back.

"If its one thing I can't stand Sarah, is dead beat Dads." He smiled at her. "I'll see what I can find out and see you later." Ros touched his arm, dropping the lightest bug Malcolm had ever designed into the man's jacket pocket.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." She turned, walked across the road and disappeared into the housing estate knowing she would be pulling him into Thames House a few hours later.

##############

"Ros has made contact." Tariq stated. Alec raised an eyebrow.

"And?"

"And she's going to need you to back her and Lucas up later." Harry stated as he walked out of his office. "Any trouble at the conference centre?"

"No. None."

"I can't help thinking there aren't any explosives." Ruth bit her lip as all the men looked at her. "It just feels wrong. We have been given carte blanch over the security now. But why repeat an attack twenty years after it failed? What's in it for them? Why would Fitzgerald be involved and where does Jane fit in?"

"He has the finances to fund it." Tariq stated as Malcolm nodded.

"Yes, but what would he gain?" Ruth bit her lip, deep in though. "Alec, you were at the conference centre. Is there anything we missed? Anything at all?"

"No." Alec frowned. "I went through everything. So did Erin and Ros. Nothing can get in or out without one of Malcolm's little toys setting the alarms off."

"They are not toys." Malcolm stated calmly. Ruth smiled, knowing he would never accept the way some of the field agents treated his beloved creations. "It has to be something else."

"Harry?" Tariq looked at his boss. Harry nodded once before leaning against Zoe's abandoned desk.

"Ros is going to pull McCarthy in later. We should have the listening devices up and running in Fitzgerald's place by then."

"Yes." Ruth frowned slightly. "And?"

"I think this goes back to Belfast." Harry stated "And I think I need to talk to Juliet and Henry again."

#################

London June 1941

"Henry Parks, what are you doing out here?" Kate called from the kitchen doorway. The night sky lit up with stars as Henry lay in the yard on his back.

"Watching the stars."

"Catching your death more like." Kate pulled her cardigan around her and trotted down the garden, careful to make sure no light emerged from the little terraced house she lived in. The last thing she needed was that blasted Air Raid Warden knocking on her door.

"I'm looking for planes." Henry answered honestly. The eight year old never ceased to surprise his aunt. "The radio said they call it the Blitz."

"They do. By rights, my sister should have sent you and the bairn to the countryside. Not here. Kids are being evacuated from London not to it."

"Nah." Henry looked up at her. "We're safe with you. Ma said so."

"I know she did." Kate held out a hand. "Why are you looking for planes at ten a clock at night might I ask?"

"Because if I can see them maybe I can warn people. If I can do that maybe I can get a job with the SOE."

"Henry." Kate knelt down to his level. "You can never say that. It's a secret. Not everyone knows what the SOE is. Not many people know there even is one."

"But they are helping to stop Hitler."

"Yes, luvvie they are. But you have to be a grown up to help. There's a minimum age and I'm hoping the war will be over before you get to 21."

"Aye, so am I." Henry got to his feet and took her hand. "Just going to have to content myself with looking after you and our Margaret then."

"You are." Kate shook her head as he lead her into the house, wondering where her nephew got such fanciful notions from.

###############

June 2013

"There are days when I seriously do not like this job." Calum stared at the rubbish that adorned the briefing room table. Tariq pulled a face as they realised there was nothing that could help them.

"Fitzgerald knows not to dispose of anything in the black bags that could be sensitive." Alex stated. Ruth wrinkled her nose at the smell.

"Er."

"Good job he doesn't know to do the same with his email."Malcolm smiled broadly. "Curtesy of young Beth I've been able to obtain all his emails for the last year. It seems like Ruth was correct. He has been in contact with both O Callaghan and McCarthy since before their release from the Maze. It looks like he was feeding them information on Section D. It was probably why Ruth was targeted early on and why Henry and Juliet are in danger now."

"Ros is meeting him in less than three hours." Alec frowned. "He knows exactly who she is."

"Yes. "Malcolm stated. "There was never a plan to destroy the conference. The plan was to destroy Harry, Juliet and Henry."

"Tying up loose ends." Zaf watched as Ruth swore under her breath. "Who wants to tell Harry?"

"I will. "She pushed herself away from the black bin liners and headed towards Harry's office.

"And I suppose that leaves you to contact Ros and Juliet." Malcolm stated as he followed Ruth out of the room.

#############

"Why did you become a spook?" Henry asked Juliet. She stared out the window, ignoring the question.

"There's a car parked behind the one that is supposed to be watching us." She stated. "Henry, I think it's time we went back to Thames House."

"What? What are you saying girl?" He was on his feet in seconds. "I am 80 years old, this is ridiculous."

"You hung Harry and I out to dry. And James for that matter. You knew we were in danger."

"Every British officer serving out there back then was in danger." Henry stated calmly. "My team were no different."

"True." Juliet nodded. "Not everyone is still watching their backs nineteen years later." She pulled her crutches to her. "Now I've paid the price for my involvement with Yalta, for what I did to Ros but this is different. This is a vendetta being made to look like a terrorist plot. Who wants to kill us and why?"

"I dunno lass."

"In that case I suggest we leave before we find out the hard way." She picked up her mobile, slipped it into her pocket and headed for the door.

####################

Ros sat in the pub watching the various customers buy drinks or seat themselves at tables. She knew Lucas was a few feet away watching the whole exchange. Adam and Alec were in the van outside while Zaf and Calum were the other side of the bar. Something felt wrong. She knew that McCarthy was too keen to meet her. He'd fallen for her story far too easily. Now as she sat and waited she begun to wonder who were the sitting ducks, the men that had tried to kill Harry and Juliet in 1994 or her sat waiting for them now. Seconds later the sound doors opening caught her attention. She looked up to see McCarthy walk towards her with his hands shoved in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Hi." She smiled. "Can I get you a drink?"

"No thanks, Sarah." He smirked. "Or should I call you Rosalind?" He pulled out a handgun as she narrowed her eyes. In seconds Adam and Lucas were behind him. Ros flashed them a warning look.

"Who?"

"You know who you are. Tell Harry Pearce this isn't over." He raised the gun as Zaf pulled his gun discretely from his own jacket and dug it in the older man's ribs.

"Tell him yourself. I'm sure he'd be glad to see you." Zaf waited as Lucas reached and pulled the gun from where McCarthy was holding it out of view of the rest of the pub. Ros gave him her best Ice Queen glare, knowing it had been another close call. "Boss?"

"Boss?" McCarthy glared at Ros who now smiled sweetly.

"Back to base. Our friend here has some explaining to do." She watched as the rest of the team escorted the larger, older man out to the van, knowing that they had been misled since the beginning. The trade conference wasn't the target. Section D were.

######################

A/N Not much more left. Another long chapter, please review.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer not mine appologies for bad language later in chapter.**

**Target.**

"What?" Harry looked at Ruth in disbelief. He couldn't quite believe his worst nightmare was happening in front of him. "We have to get Henry and Juliet back here."

"I'll send Dimitri and Beth." Ruth stepped back, worried about her husband. "Erin and Alec are out with an asset. What about Fitzgerald?"

"Leave him to me." Harry stated calmly. Ruth nodded, knowing the tone of his voice brokered no room for argument. Harry turned away from her and headed back towards his desk. Something inside Ruth broke, she was losing him slowly but she had no idea what she could do about it. Slipping quietly out of the office she walked towards Beth who was staring at the computer screen over Calum's shoulder.

"Beth."

"Yeah?"

"Fancy a trip out?"

"What?" She looked up, her blonde bob falling into her face as she spoke.

"I don't believe I'm saying this." Ruth paused. "Get Dimitri and pick up Henry and Juliet."

"OK." Beth nodded before catching Ruth's eyes. "What is it? Ruth?"

"Just get them back here." Ruth bit her lip, aware that Zoe and Zaf had also been watching her.

#####################

Adam glared at the man opposite him in the Interview Room. He remained silent as the thick-set man narrowed his eyes. He was in no rush, Christian McCarthy had been through interviews before. He knew how to wait things out, just as Adam did.

"Adam." Ros stated as she walked in and sat in the chair next to him. Adam nodded. "Christian, remember me?"

Christian smirked before narrowing his eyes. He watched Ros smile slightly as she regarded him. The nervous, almost frightened woman he had met on the doors of the B&B had vanished. In her place was a cool, almost predatory spook. The change was almost unnerving.

"For the benefit of the tape Christian McCarthy has been brought in under the Anti-terrorism Act 2010. Senior Case Officer Adam Carter and Section Chief Ros Myers are present." She glanced at her watch and stated the time. "Now, Christian, tell me. Why exactly are you plotting to kill a current anti-terrorism officer and two retired members of staff?"

"No comment."

"Oh I just love it when people say that." Adam frowned. "In itself that is a comment."

"True." Ros nodded, her eyes as stared at the thick-set man opposite him.

"Harassment. That's what this is. Bloody harassment. I served my time."

"Yeah." Adam nodded. "You served your time for the explosion, for the death of four people including your brother."

"What the fuck do you know about it, little boy?" Adam remained impassive as the older man ranted at him. Ros had clearly hit a nerve. "My brother is dead, so he is. Yous killed him, not me."

"You planted the bomb, you supplied the weapons and you were the one that turned an MI5 officer. Explain how that is our fault." Ros pushed her chair back as she spoke. Adam continued to glare in silence, taking in everything the older man said. The atmosphere in the room was palpable but neither Ros nor Adam were going to do anything to lighten the mood.

"And it is you that wanted to attack this year's trade conference." Ros continued before crouching next to the heavily tattooed man. For a moment she glanced at his heavily inked arms wondering why this man's body art disgusted her so much when Lucas' was attractive. She took a deep breath as he turned to face her. "But there is no planned attack on the conference is there?"

"Yous sure of that? Are you?"

"Oh I'm quite sure of that. You see, my friend Terry told me all about it." Ros lied before standing up and walking behind him. She leaned forward to see Adam smirking. "So, I suggest you tell me exactly when Fitzgerald contacted you and what he is planning next."

"You think I'm gonna tell you anything." He stated rather than asked. "I don't think so luv."

"Funnily enough, I am not your luv." Ros stepped back.

"I strongly suggest you refrain from pissing my boss off." Adam watched as Ros raised an eyebrow.

"No, go on." Ros stated. "You never know what you might let slip." McCarthy glared at her for a moment before leaning back and folding his heavily tattooed arms. He narrowed his eyes at Adam. Ros leant against the wall as McCarthy leant forward to pick up the glass of water that had been sat there.

"Oh now the shit will hit the fan." Adam smirked. "Literally I might add." He pushed his chair back as McCarthy threw the glass at the wall. Ros didn't flinch as glass shattered next to her head. McCarthy glared at her, unable to believe the woman in front of him was as unshakable as she really seemed.

"Now, if the histrionics are over let's get down to business." Ros held his gaze. McCarthy sat back down, almost resigned to the fact he was going to have to answer their questions.

###################

Harry placed the phone back on his desk before burying his head in his hands. He was relieved Ruth had sent Beth and Dimitri to bring in the errant ex spooks but he knew that Fitzgerald was going to be a harder nut to crack. Memories of arguments with Jane sprang to mind. He felt sick as he remembered the dead woman's temper, how he had tried to sheild Catherine and Graham from the worst of her vitriole. Closing his eyes he tried to steady his breathing. The woman was dead. The mother of his older children had died in prison, apparently by her own hand almost twenty years after she had sold him out to the current head of Internal Affairs. Now, as he tried to work out what the Hell Fitzgerald was playing at his older children were going through the Hell of losing their mother. Sighing heavily he shook his head before picking up the phone.

######################

"Juliet." Beth opened the car door as the older woman staggard towards them. "Get in, Henry?"

"I'm here!" He slipped into the backseat as Dimitri gunned the engine. "Seems we have had some unwanted visitors."

"Yeah, getting more and more popular." Dimitri smiled before realising Beth was checking her gun. "Juliet? Do you have a weapon?"

"No. Last time I held a gun I did this." She pulled her black curlyhair back to reveal a scar along the left side of her forehead. Beth pulled a face.

"Ok, no gun for you." Beth stated as Henry smirked. "And I thought I was a bad shot."

############

"Bloody Hell." Malcolm whispered under his breath as the Pod doors whooshed open. Calum immediately followed his line of sight, raising an eyebrow when they realised the man Zaf and Zoe had been tailing had just walked onto the Grid.

"Ah, so glad to see Section D actually doing some work." Fitzgerald snapped. Lucas got to his feet at the same time Alec did. Ruth held the older man's eye, determined not to look away. She knew this man had tried to kill Harry. Had been responsible for trying to end the Peace Process, but he had failed. And she knew he would fail now. "Lady Pearce, your husband."

"Mrs Pearce." Ruth corrected almost automatically. "Still grates on you, doesn't it?"

"Ruth." Lucas warned.

"My husband not only survived your little fling with Jane but he was awarded a knighthood. Whereas you? You get pulled off Section A and shipped out to Internal Affairs." She spoke calmly, aware that the man in front of her had turned a dangerous shade of white.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." He snapped just as Ros and Adam returned.

"No?" Ros snapped. "But it doesn't matter. Terry and Christian seem to know more than enough."

"What the!" Fitzgerald turned just as a crash came from the office. Ruth instinctively looked back in time to see what remained of Harry's phone hit the carpet after bouncing off the wall.

"Frederick, my office." Harry stated as the older man realised he had been watched the entire time.

"I'd do as he says." Alec stated as his former boss narrowed his eyes.

"My office, or would you prefer to continue to embarrass yourself in front of junior colleagues?" Harry shouted as Fitzgerald stepped away from Ruth. She turned to see Harry catch her eye for a moment. She nodded once aware that he had hated Fitzgerald being anywhere near her and needing to know she was ok.

########################

"So, Fitzgerald? He was behind all this?" Henry glanced over his shoulder. "That little oik. I should have worked it out."

"Maybe you would if you hadn't been fawning over your analyst." Juliet snapped.

"Oh, I think Pot, Kettle and Black come to mind." The older man huffed, determined not to let Juliet's acid tongue affect him. He leant forward hoping that only Beth and Dimitri would be able to hear him. "Doesn't this thing go any faster?"

Dimitri glanced at Beth before smiling slightly. His foot pressing down on the accelerator as they made their way back to Thames House.

"Good lad." Henry smiled.

"Um." Beth glanced in her wingmirror. "Sailor boy? Looks like we have company." She nodded towards the small black Renault that had been on their tail for the last few minutes.

"Good grief." Juliet hissed. "Tenacious little toerags arent they?"

"Yeah." Beth agreed. "But so are we." She opened the car door slightly, aware Dimitri was pushing the car to almost double the speed limit. Her gun wavered before she threw herself back into the seat. A single bullet pierced the tyres of the car following them, forcing it to swerve and hit the lampost on the corner. She smiled before putting the gun away. "Should give us enough time to get back to base. Why are they targeting you anyway?"

"That." Henry paused. "Is the question."

"And does it have an answer?" Dimitri asked, slowing the car to a more legal speed.

"Not yet." Henry rubbed his hand over his beard. "Not yet."

#############################

A/N Is anyone still reading? Next time Harry v Fitzgerald. Is Ruth really losing him? Can Beth and Dimitri get Juliet and Henry back to base. Have another idea for a story after this one, if anyone is interested. Currently called In From The Cold. What does Sam's reappearance with her young son mean for the rest of Section D? Can the information she brings head of disaster and can Towers be trusted ahead of a cabinet reshuffle? Will finish this story first. Please review.


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer not mine. Thanks for all the reviews. I am getting some quite abusive reviews and some in languages I don't understand. So, please either criticize my stories constructively or don't leave a comment. Also please sign in so that I can reply to said comment. I will finish this chapter but I don't think I will be writing anything more for any genre. **

**The Games People Play**

Fitzgerald walked into Harry's office and closed the door. Harry stared at him for a moment before crossing the room to close the blinds. The silence that fell over the Grid as the team saw the blinds close was deafening. Ros was the first to recover.

"Alec." She turned to face the former IA man. "Get hold of Beth and Dimitri, tell them to go to safe house B. I don't want them turning up here with Juliet and Henry while that man is on the Grid."

"Ok."

"Actually, meet them at the safe house. Suddenly I don't trust the communications in this place." Ros folded her arms, her attention firmly on the closed office door. Lucas crossed the room to her as Tariq pushed his chair back.

"Ros? I've swept the place for any listening devices. Nothing as yet."

"Good." She glanced towards Ruth who was trying to ignore what was going on in the office and staring at her computer screen. "Zoe? I thought you were following him."

"We did. Had to pull back when we were spotted." Zoe stated. "He knows when he has a tail. Did manage to get a couple of trackers on the car."

"Ok." She began pacing the room. "At least we'll know where he is going when he leaves here. Ruth?" She walked across to the analyst who had been quiet since Fitzgerald had arrived. "Anything?"

"He was in Belfast at the same time as Harry and Juliet. We know that. What we still don't really know is why. I'm having a look in the files I've acquired from 6 from the mid 1990s."

"Do 6 know that you have them?" Lucas smiled at her as Ruth raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't tell them."

Lucas rolled his eyes as Ruth spoke. It was clear that the firewalls and encryption of MI 6 had nothing on Ruth's ability to look around whatever system she liked.

################

"Harry." Fitzgerald watched as Harry stared at him. It was clear Harry was going to let the older, thinner man dig his own grave. "I don't know what game you think you are playing."

"No games, Frederick." Harry kept his cool. "Tell me, what were you doing in Belfast in May and June 1994?"

"What are you suggesting?" Fitzgerald narrowed his eyes. Harry walked across to the decanter on the shelf and poured himself a large whiskey.

"I am not suggesting anything. We know you were there. You spoke with Juliet Shaw in the pub. I watched the exchange. What we didn't know was why you were there? Was it just to facilitate my murder or was there a legitimate op going on?"

"If I was there to facilitate your death do you really think I would be stood here talking to you?"

Harry smiled slightly as he regarded the older man. It was common knowledge that Fitzgerald was counting the days to retirement. It couldn't come soon enough for Harry.

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Harry, what is the meaning of this?" Fitzgerald looked more confused than angry. The door to the office burst open as Ruth walked in.

"Harry. You need to see this." She handed him a thin file. Harry nodded and took it.

"Thank you Ruth." He smiled slightly as she disappeared from the room. Fitzgerald raised an eyebrow as Ruth closed the door behind her.

"You really ought to teach your staff some manners." Fitzgerald smirked.

Harry crossed the room to him, his eyes narrowing as he did so. Seconds later the older man was pinned to the wall by his throat.

"I am not playing. So I suggest you listen to this and take what I am saying very seriously. Attack me through my family or this team again and I will make sure you pay."

"Harry." He gasped as Harry reduced the pressure on his throat. "I'll make you pay for that."

"I am sure you will." Harry straightened his own tie. "Jane is dead. We know you visited her the day she committed suicide. Or should I say the day her death was made to look like suicide. Come at me through Ruth or any of my team or my kids again."

"Your kids?" Fitzgerald smirked. "The girl who couldn't keep her legs closed, the junkie, the orphan and the baby. Are you sure you are the father to any of them?" The punch knocked Fitzgerald off his feet, the resulting crash causing the rest of the Grid to stop what they were doing and pause.

"Oh dear, the CCTV feed from Harry's office appears to be broken." Malcolm smirked. "Most unfortunate."

"Since when?" Adam stated.

"About ten seconds ago - when I disabled it." Malcolm smirked. Adam smiled back as Ros nodded. He had no idea what had happened in the office but thought it was best Harry only had his word against Fitzgerald's when they both emerged.

#####################

Harry stepped back, shaking his bloodied fist. Fitzgerald held his nose, silent for a moment.

"She always told me Graham wasn't yours. Assumed you knew."

"He's my son." Harry glared at him. "Now tell me, what were you doing in Belfast?"

"Ask Parks. I assume he hasn't lost the plot, completely." Fitzgerald snapped, blood dripping onto his pristine white shirt. Harry glared at him.

"I am asking you."

"You really think I murdered Jane? I wanted her to leave you. I was going to take her and the brats."

"And what would you have done with my children? Boarding school? nannies?" He shook his head. "Jane didn't want you but she told you something and now she is dead."

"She wanted you to be."

"Pity you don't always get what you want." Harry watched the older man. "I know Jane wished me dead more than once. How did you do it? How did you get her to kill herself? Did you pay her cell mate to kill her? An assasin? How? What was the price? For the life of my kids' mother?"

#####################

"The woman who shared Jane's cell was released the morning Jane died. Gillian Lloyd, aged 57. Served five years for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and aiding and abetting a known criminal."

"Five years for that?" Zaf asked as Ruth nodded.

"She was violent in prison, got time added to her sentence."

"Ah. So? You think she may have been the one to murder Jane?" Adam perched on the edge of Ruth's desk.

"No." Ruth shook her head. "But I think she made it easier. The prison warder I spoke to said Jane had been quiet the night before. No sarcasm, no arguments just behaved herself. I wonder if Lloyd drugged her. Made it easier for someone else to make her death look like suicide."

"I think I'm going to have a chat with the prison officers on duty that day." Zaf pushed himself away from the desk. "Zoe? Fancy a trip out?" His fiance nodded before following him out of the Grid. Seconds later Fitzgerald emerged from Harry's office and leaviing the Grid without a word.

"Harry?" Ros raised an eyebrow.

"Not enough to bring him in." Harry stated. "Ruth? A word?" He turned and headed back in to his office, leaving Ruth no choice but to follow him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N thank you for all the support I've recieved with my stories over the last three years. I really appreciate the reviews I have had. I have allowed the reviews that have been posted to my stories to go through in the hope someone can make sense of them and understand why I am reluctant to continue.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Author's note. Thank you to Littlemissruth, sparky, rosetintedblindspot, and everyone who reviewed the previous chapter and/or pm's me. I was a little concerned re the 'review' that threatened not only me but another writer. However this was nothing to do with Rosetintedblindspot - she is a fab writer and a friend of mine. I have decided to keep going as I quite like the idea of Sam turning up in the next story causing mayhem!**

**Dangerous**

**June 2013**

Ruth walked into Harry's office and closed the door behind her. Harry stared at his bruised hand as Ruth stepped closer.

"Why did you hit him?" Ruth asked. Harry shrugged his shoulders and looked like a petulant school boy. She couldn't help but smile.

"I didn't realise his head was quite so hard. Thick skull to go with his thick skin."

"Harry." Ruth tilted her head, watching him as he turned to face her. She took his bruised hand in hers and began to examine the knuckles. "What happened?"

"He killed Jane." Harry paused. "Or at least, he had someone do it. There is no way he would get his hands dirty. He also questioned the children's paternity."

"He did what?" Ruth's voice was low, more angry than Harry had remembered seeing her. "You know Graham and the girls are yours. You know Nico thinks of you as his dad. You are more of a dad to him that George ever could be. He thinks the world of you."

Harry smiled at her indignation before brushing a stray curl away from her face. "I know Squeek is mine. I could never doubt you. Ever. I think the world of young Nick too. He's a great boy." Harry smiled. "Jane was never faithful. She lied to me when we were dating, told me she was pregnant. Funnily enough she told me she wasn't pregnant two days after the wedding. About the same time I told her my real occupation." He smirked at the memory.

"Catherine is a carbon copy of you." Ruth watched as Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Oh don't wish that on the girl."

"Why not? She's smart, intelligent, trustworthy and has a heart of gold." Ruth stepped closer to him. "Like her father. And Graham is yours."

"There was always a doubt there." Harry sighed. "I think that's why he drank and lost himself in that crap he pumped into his veins. He overheard his mother and I arguing when he was thirteen. There was a park near where we lived. All the kids went there. Anyway, he must have come home for some squash, to get his cricket bat or something." Harry paused. "Neither of us realised he was there. I honestly didn't know he was in the kitchen."

"But?" Ruth held his injured hand as he closed his eyes. The memory clearly painful for him but he knew he had to go on.

"But he was there. Jane said some terrible things. She could get violent, never with the children. At least not as far as I know."

"She hit you."

"Occasionally." Harry sighed. "Yes, she did. I told her that at least she could never stop me seeing my children.. That was when she said I shouldn't be so sure they were mine. At least not the boy." Harry shook his head. "He heard it all. By the time I realised he was there it was too late."

"Oh Harry." Ruth stepped closer so that they were almost touching. "He's yours. I know he is."

"It doesn't matter. I'm his dad." Harry shrugged. "Genetics are nothing really." Ruth smiled as he spoke. She kissed him gently on the lips as he pulled her to him. She pulled away, aware that the rest of the team were in the Grid.

"We have to get to the bottom of this. Zaf has a tracer on his car." He nodded as the phone on his desk began to ring. He stepped towards it and answered. Ruth bit her bottom lip as she watched him turn a shade of red she knew wasn't good for his blood pressure.

"Harry?"

"I'll be there." Harry snapped before putting the phone back down. "He wants to meet. I'll get Malcolm to wire me up. Has Beth and Dimitri checked in yet?"

"No, not yet. Alec is on the way to meet them. Harry, you can't meet Fitzgerald alone. Just because we have O Callaghan and McCarthy in the cells doesn't mean he wont try something." Harry nodded as he thought about what she was saying.

"I have to." He watched as she looked away. "But I won't be alone."

###########################

"Beth." Alec jogged up to the blonde spook as she and Henry stepped out of the car. "Were you followed?"

"Yes but young Elizabeth dealt with it. Very affectively I may add." The pensioner smiled proudly at the young woman. "In my day..."

"Good." Alec smiled at her as Juliet stepped out of the car. "Inside now. We have some information." He ushered his partner and the others towards the doorway of a block of council flats. Juliet narrowed her eyes. She knew she wasn't going to like what Henry had to tell them.

"Don't mind me." Dimitri sighed as he looked around, aware that the summer sunshine was going to give way to rain any second. Beth turned and smiled at her boyfriend, knowing he didn't fully trust Alec and knew Henry was hiding something.

################

"When are you meeting him?" Ros folded her arms as Harry looked at the assembled officers around the Briefing Room table. Ruth stared at the polished mahogany knowing the rest of the team would see how worried she was. Calum frowned as he watched his girlfriend's father take a deep breath.

"6am."

"So that gives us twelve hours to have you sorted." Calum thought out loud. Malcolm nodded.

"Tariq has been working on a new device. Ingenious really. Smaller than a lady's stud earring. You can fit it to a cufflinks or the back of your tie." Harry smiled slightly, knowing Malcolm was proud of what had affectionately become known as the Geek Squad.

"Should be useful." He replied. Ros raised an eyebrow.

"You are not going there alone. We are not having another day like the debacle at the Enver Tower or the Park." She watched as Lucas nodded. Adam ran a hand over his face.

"What about Juliet and Henry? He knows they are in hiding. Fitzgerald knows the system. He probably even knows what was said in here before his first visit. How many bugs did we find?"

"Listening devices." Tariq corrected. "And six in this room alone."

"Dimitri and Beth are to stay with them." Harry stated. "Alec can provide them with back up." He looked around the table. "I wont pretend I like this. And I wont force any of you to take part in this op if you feel unable to do so." He glanced at Ruth who shook her head slightly.

"With due respect." Zoe spoke up for the first time. "Whatever this man did to you, Henry and Juliet he also attacked us. He bugged the Grid. He messed up the computer system, almost caused Tariq to collapse. "We're all in this."

"She's right." Zaf smiled at his fiancé. Adam and Lucas nodded.

"He can't get away with it." Erin folded her arms as Ruth felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. "We wont let him."

"Well, then." Ros smiled. "Those of us that need to sort out family and other commitments do so now. It's going to be a long night." Harry looked around the table, unsure what he had done to deserve the loyalty of so many officers. He made a silent vow that he wouldn't let any harm come to them, even if it meant sacrificing himself.

#########################

"This has nothing to do with Operation Sunflower." Alec stated as they sat in the threadbare living room. Juliet leant heavily against the back of the sofa.

"What?"

"Fitzgerald has orchestrated this, knowing Terry and McCarthy had a grudge against you and Harry. Henry, I'm sorry but you are targeted by association." Alec explained. Dimitri swore as Beth stared at Alec.

"Ok. What is the target then?" Henry ran a hand over his beard. Alec narrowed his eyes.

"Section D. Or more accurately Harry, Juliet and you." Alec explained. It was Beth's turn to turn the air blue. Juliet shook her head.

"People seem to want to kill me." She shook her head. "Occupational hazard I guess."

"For you." Dimitri snapped, remembering what he had been told about the thin brunette. Juliet shot him a death glare Ros would have been proud of. "What now?"

"Now." Alec got up and walked towards the dirty window overlooking the street. "We stay here until either Adam or Ros get in touch. Officially we are on our own."

"Oh." Henry closed his eyes, suddenly feeling every day of his advanced years. "Oh my word."

"Henry?" Beth leant forward, concerned about the older man. "Henry? What is it?"

"James was right. That poor boy was right."

"James? The officer that died?"

"No Beth." He shook his head. "The talented, kind young father that was murdered. He told me Fitzgerald was a sneaky little snake and not to be trusted. I told him not to bother himself with officers that were on secondment to 6. Once they were over the River they were not our concern." He ran a hand over his face. "I was an idiot."

"Yes, you were." Juliet snapped. "First Harry comes to you, then James. Now one man is dead and another has a psychopath out for his blood. Fantastic job as Section Head." She snapped.

"Jules." Alec rested a hand on her shoulder. "Not now." She instantly relaxed as he spoke.

"Operation Sunflower was an excuse for you to get Connie on her own, with your wife away and us out in the field." Juliet hissed. Henry shook his head.

"No lass, it wasn't like that." He took his hat off and glared at the wooden floor. "It wasn't like that."

"Can we spare the witch hunt? It isn't really helping now." Beth had always liked Henry. Seeing Juliet upset him was beginning to get to her. "We need to keep you safe and hope Harry can stop Fitzgerald."

"Aye." Henry nodded. "I only hope he can, otherwise I'll be going to my grave with the deaths of two brilliant men on my conscience." He covered his face as Beth looked towards Dimitri. She shook her head sadly before hugging the older man. Dimitri slipped over to Alec and looked over the street below.

"Ok, what's the plan?"

"That, Dim is the one thing I don't know." Alec sighed. "Stay alive would be the first priority I reckon. Then stop Fitzgerald and his little friends before he can bury the truth of what he has done." Dimitri nodded, hoping that his colleagues had more of a plan than they did.

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A/N About three possibly four chapters left. Thank you all again


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Park Life**

Harry sat on the park bench looking out over the cricket pitch. The grass seemed greener in the early morning sunshine. He frowned slightly, aware that Tariq and Calum were watching the scene from the Obs van a few feet away. He knew Ruth and the others would also be watching as the scene unfolded. He couldn't help but remember a time before he had married Ruth, the day Tom had shot Dolby and tried to kill him. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind, two people were in custody and it was very unlikely Fitzgerald would use a third party. Hit men really were not his thing.

"Harry." He heard Calum's voice over the earpiece both Ros and Ruth had insisted he wore. "Erin and Adam are in place."

"Ok." Harry paused, wondering if Fitzgerald would keep to his part of the bargain. Glancing at his watch he was beginning to wonder.

"Malcolm has the CCTV footage for the park on his screen. We'll see Fitzgerald the moment he arrives." Harry glanced up at the CCTV camera in the corner of the green. He desperately wanted to know where Ruth was but didn't want to ask. He knew the analyst hadn't wanted him to meet the current head of Internal Affairs outside of the Grid but Harry could see no other way of drawing Fitzgerald out. He looked out over the green and tried to imagine happier times he would spend there, watching Nic play cricket with Graham and Charlie or Gracie-Jo playing football. He focused on the fact he was about to become a granddad for the second time or the way Ruth sang when she didn't think anyone was home to hear her. Even the cats sleeping on the bed and Scarlett snoring. Anything other than the fact Fitzgerald had a twenty year old grudge and had almost certainly been involved in the death of his ex-wife.

#################

"He's wearing a vest." Zaf stated. Ruth nodded, her eyes fixed on the screen in front of her. Alec shook his head, knowing the fact Harry had a wire on and body armour was doing nothing to calm Ruth's nerves. He was as worried as shee was. Juliet was in as much danger. He glanced across to see Ruth's already fear filled eyes widen.

"Doesn't stop an explosion blowing him up. Or a bullet in the head." She blinked as Zaf nodded.

"Adam is there. Ros and Erin are minutes away." Lucas stated as Ruth nodded. "He knows what he is doing. This is Harry we are talking about. If Dimitri and Beth." Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Talking of which, has anyone spoken to the dynamic duo in the last hour or so?"

"No." Zoe frowned. "Lucas North, don't tell me you are worried about them?"

"No." Lucas shrugged his eyes focused on the desk. "Just wondering if Juliet has killed them yet."

"Do not even joke about that." Ruth smirked slightly. "Zoe, shouldn't you three be down there by now? Fitzgerald isn't going to be alone when he meets Harry."

"True." Zoe pushed her chair away from her desk. "We need to be on our way." She slipped out of the Grid as Malcolm glanced at Ruth, worried about his friend. Ruth turned her attention back to the screen knowing that more was going on than met the eye.

"Ruth." Malcolm approached her once he was certain the others were engrossed in their work. "What are you reading?"

"Jane's autopsy report." Ruth stated calmly. "It's just."

"I thought you would be working on the footage." He nodded to where his own computer showed the image of a rather bored looking Harry sat waiting. Ruth smiled slightly as she watched him, remembering how he had tried to find a shirt and jacket that would fit over the bullet proof vest. Seemingly he had lost weight since they had been married - something to do with more exercise. She blushed slightly as she remembered the comment, glad that he had at least kept one slightly larger jacket.

"It's just so clinical."

"I would have thought a professional report like that would be. The coroner is involved."

"I know." Ruth paused. "It just sounds so, well, so descriptive. I never liked the woman but she didn't deserve this. She was a mum and a grandmother, this reduces her to a load of body parts. Death by hypoxia and strangulation. No obvious defensive marks on body suggesting self intent." Ruth read it out as Malcolm shook his head. He remembered the sharp, quick witted woman that was mother to his godchildren. "Hang on." She clicked the computer screen a few times as the report faded out to leave a photograph, mercifully in black and white of Jane's left arm. "What's that?"

"A puncture wound." Malcolm ran a hand over his face. "Oh my good Lord."

"She was drugged." Ruth paused. "I was right. She didn't fight back because she was sedated." Ruth turned to look directly at Malcolm.

"By who?"

"I'll go through the prison staff logs. We already know Jane's cellmate was released that morning. We don't see how another prisoner could get into her cell and back out again before the warder found her body. It has to be someone on the staff." Malcolm nodded before returning to his work station, relieved that Ruth was able to focus on the investigation rather than the fact her husband was essentially on a suicide mission.

#####################

"Fitzgerald." Juliet shook her head as Dimitri handed Alec a mug of coffee. "That slimy little."

"He was never to be trusted." Henry took his hat off and placed it on the coffee table as Beth watched him. "I should have known. Aye, I am so sorry. This is all my fault."

"No it isn't." Juliet paused. "No it really isn't. It's Terry's fault for being weak enough to be turned. Jane's for being a slut."

"Excuse me!" Henry widened his eyes.

"Oh I know I had an affair but I wasn't the one that was married." Juliet hissed. "I spent three weeks in ITU because that poisonous bitch couldn't keep either her legs nor her lips together." Dimitri and Beth exchanged glances as Henry almost choked on his coffee. Alec smirked, glad that at least Juliet had some fight left in her.

"Anyway." Dimitri said. "Moving on, we can't stay here long. We should really split up."

"Yeah." Alec agreed. "Sat here we are literally sitting ducks. Fitzgerald isn't going to want the DG or any of the others finding out what was going on back then. There will be a clean up squad, especially now Harry is meeting him in the park."

"Harry is what!" Juliet snapped. Beth nodded.

"It's true." She paused. "He is. Ok, Juliet you go with Alec. Dimitri and Henry with me. Come on, drink up." She got to her feet as Dimitri smiled, knowing that given the option she wouldn't want to spend more time with Juliet Shaw than she really had to. Alec got to his feet and nodded.

"Back at the Grid, rv at 12?"

"12 it is." Dimitri glanced at Juliet before following Beth and Henry to the fire ecape, hoping there wasn't a reception commitee waiting for them.

###################################

"Stand by." Erin stated calmly as she sat between an industrial sized rubbish container. Her coat pulled up to her throat with a dirty wollen hat pulled down to hide her long black hair and facial features. Fingerless gloves and battered traingers completed the look. To anyone walking in the park that time of day she was just another homeless person looking for shelter. Ros leant against the back of the cricket pavillion and nodded.

"I see the target. Repeat I have eye ball."

"Yeah." Lucas replied as he walked along with Calum's dog Spike on the end of a lead. "I could get used to having a dog."

"Focus." Ros couldn't keep the smile out of her voice.

"He's heading towards the children's play area." Lucas carried on walking Spike.

"You lose my dog." Calum stated. "And I don't care how big a field officer you are."

"Calm down." Lucas smiled as he knelt down, to fuss the little cavilier King Charles Spaniel. "He's fine. Aren't you boy? He's heading your way, Zaf." Lucas glanced sideways as he saw the older man slip past him into the children's play area. At 6 am the place was abandoned. The children's swings erily moving in the breeze.

"He's checking for a tail." Ros stated. "Bit crap at it."

"Out of practice. Too long behind a desk." Adam slid the hood of his parker up as he leaned into Zoe, aware that for all the world they looked like a pair of drug addicts. Zoe glanced at her watch, rolling her eyes at the time.

"I heard that." Harry snapped as Adam and Zoe couldn't help but laugh.

"You were meant to." Adam replied. Harry merely rolled his eyes. Moments later Zaf's voice could be heard once more. Fitzgerlad was headed towards the bench in the cricket pavillion.

"Here we go." Ros stated. "Harry, be careful." Harry nodded once before getting to his feet. This was it. This was the meet that could kill him. He took a steadying breath before looking the older man in the eye. There was no going back now, this was showtime.

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A/N May not be able to update until weekend. Hope this is ok, please review.


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer see previous**

**Showtime**

Harry narrowed his eyes as Fitzgerald walked towards him. He knew his team were watching but it didn't help to ease the sense of foreboding when he looked at the older man's face.

"Harry."

"You wanted to meet." Harry snapped as he watched Fitzgerald smirk. "You may be nearing retirement but some of us have a job waiting for us."

"Now, now Harry." Fitzgerald smirked. "Always were one to skip the pleasantries."

"What did you want to speak to me about?" Harry tried again, aware that Tariq and Calum could hear every word that was being said. Fitzgerald nodded towards the cricket pitch.

"Beautiful." He sighed. "In this light, don't you think?"

"You didn't call me here at 6 am to discuss the merits of the local cricket green." He watched the older man take a few steps away from him, unsure if he was still in range. "You bugged the Grid."

"That is one very serious accusation."

"We found the listening devices." Harry stepped closer to him. "You really thought we wouldn't? You know my team and you know me."

"An aging spook and his assortment of waifs and strays. Let's see." Fitzgerald kept his voice low. "A Section Chief that faked her own death, a single parent, widows, those that failed to be proper field officers. An ex con or two and a man who can't handle his temper. One even fled to the other side of the Med to avoid being anywhere near you. One girl is even brain-damaged - could barely keep a sentence going while another "

Harry narrowed his eyes. He knew Fitzgerald was trying to rile him. He also had a feeling he knew they were being listened to.

"I have the best counter terrorism team in the business and you know it. My Section Chief is the best. Erin lost her partner to the service. And as for failed field officers my desk team make it possible for the field officers to do their jobs. Adam can handle his temper when required, Lucas is the best counter interrogation officer you've met and Beth is an intuitive spook. And as for Ruth, I suggest you erase her from your thoughts completely." He walked along the edge of the grass.

"After what happened to your ex wife? To a couple of former flings of yours." Fitzgerald laughed, before Harry landed the punch square on his chin, causing his head to snap back. Fitzgerald was on the floor staring up at Harry for the second time in as many days.

"Maria died because of Sugarhorse, Juliet injured herself and Jane was murdered." Harry tried to ignore the throbbing in his right hand. "I know you had Jane killed. I know you wanted to finish what you started."

"That was your second mistake, Pearce." Fitzgerald struggled to his feet.

"You didn't call me here to get punched in the face again." Harry glared. "You only started taking an interest in Section D when Terry was released from prison. Why?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ruth parked the car in the small car park behind the prison. She felt the same sense of foreboding she had the first time she had been there. This time she knew Jane was dead. She just had to speak to the prison staff once more. Taking a deep breath she opened the car door and headed towards the prison door.

#########

"Harry." Ros hissed as she realised she was not on her own behind the cricket pavilion. The anger boiled in her stomach as she clenched and unclenched her fists."We have company." Harry didn't reply but she knew he had heard her. Calum swore as he tried to increase the resonance of his listening devices while Tariq scanned the CCTV cameras looking for any unexpected visitors.

"Erin? Ros? Three of Fitzgerald's goons are coming in the west entrance."

"I see them." Lucas spoke calmly before tugging Spike's lead. "Come on boy."

"You get my dog hurt." Calum snapped as Lucas rolled his eyes.

"We're just going to say hello." Lucas walked up to the two younger men who were walking into the park. Spike barked, clearly aware that the men weren't to be trusted. Lucas smiled slightly, aware that the dog's instincts were spot on. The younger of the two IA officers glared at Lucas while the other lit a cigarette.

"Morning." Lucas smiled his best charm smile before attempting to walk past the pair.

"Yeah." The smoking man nodded. "It is. You're section D."

"Eh?" Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Sorry mate, not a clue what you are on about." He stepped sideways, only to have his path blocked by the burly younger officer.

"Consider your card marked."

"Look." Lucas straightened up to his full height, aware Adam was approaching a few feet away. "I have no idea who you are or what the Hell you think you are doing but get out of my way, there's a good lad." He narrowed his eyes as the thinner, smoking man raised his fist. A loud bark startled the pair as Lucas dodged the punch, Spike sank his teeth into the calf of the thinner man. "Off." Lucas snapped as the little dog growled.

"He's never done that." Calum shook his head in disbelief. "Bloody Hell."

"Yeah well." Adam laughed. "He's got Lucas out of a sticky situation. All we got to do now is retrieve Harry." He watched as Lucas picked up the little dog and left the van. Spike looked over his shoulder and snarled one more time.

##################

"Mrs Pearce." The assistant govenor shook her head in dismay. "I really don't know what you hope to achieve in all this. She killed herself. It is as tragic and simple as that."

"Miss?" Ruth glanced at her name badge. "Smith." The younger woman raised an eyebrow. "I intend to find out what the real circumstances around the death are. You know as well as I do that this is not a straight forward suicide."

"Excuse me?"

"If Jane Townsend was at risk of commiting suicide, if her mental health had been sufficiently concerning then she would have been moved to either the medical wing for evaluation and assessment or placed on suicide watch in the vulnerable prisoner wing. Neither happened."

"Occasionally we do not get the warning signs." The heels clipped on the tiled floor as Ruth fell into step beside her.

"Or occasionally a suicide isn't exactly what it seems." Ruth glared at her. "I want to talk to the warder that found Jane's body and the officer that last saw her alive."

"What exactly are you suggesting? You have no authority to storm in here and demand to upset my staff." The woman's blue eyes bore into Ruth's who wasn't the least bit intimidated.

"I can have the police over here with a warrant in the next twenty minutes. Or, I can do this as simply as possible." Ruth stated firmly. "We know Jane died in your care and that has to be an embarrassment but wouldn't you rather know if you had a murderer on your staff, rather than in your cells?"

Ruth paused, sensing someone behind her. For a moment she wondered if Alec had met her at the prison as Malcolm had tried to arrange. She almost imagined the sharp piercing of the metal on her skin. Stepping forward she narrowed her eyes as a familiar voice snapped her back to the reality of the present.

"I suggest you listen to Lady Pearce." Dimitri smiled his best charm smile. "Unless you want this little scandal to reach the papers."

"You wouldn't?" Smith gasped.

"I wouldn't bet against it." Dimitri smiled as Miss Smith glared at him.

##################

Harry walked back on to the Grid in silence as Ros and Adam stepped through the adjoining pods. He glanced around the Grid as Erin walked in, pulling her woolen hat from her head as Malcolm looked up from his computer. The colour draining from his face.

"Anything?"

"Where's Ruth?" Ros asked. She knew Ruth would be the only one to see the connections that were rapidly eluding them.

"She went to the prison. I advised caution, Harry but she was determined."

"I see." Harry raised an eyebrow. He tried to fight the fear that was slowly building in his stomach. Ruth in the field had never really worked well.

"I tried to contact Alec but he's gone into deep cover with Juliet."

"I bet he has." Zoe snorted before returning to her computer.

"So I asked Dimitri to meet her there." Malcolm stated, ignoring the jibe from Zoe. "Beth and Henry are in the Briefing Room."

"Get hold of Ruth." Ros stated as Zaf picked up the phone. "Get her and Dimitri back here, now. Fitzgerald killed Jane and had James Davies killed 19 years ago." Ros continued. "Let's stop him before anyone else dies."

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A/N Not my best chapter but it sets up a Harry/Ruth reunion and the next chapter. Please review


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Analyze that**

"Pearce." Dimitri smiled as she raised an eyebrow. The rather annoyed Miss Smith had left them alone in the office while she looked for the duty records Ruth had asked for.

"What are you doing here?" Ruth smiled slightly. Dimitri shrugged his shoulders.

"Beth got Henry back to Thames House and Malcolm asked me to come here. I think he's a bit worried about you being out in the field." He watched as Ruth rolled her eyes.

"Can't think why."

"I can Pearce." Dimitri smiled at her. "You and fieldwork don't exactly go together. How many times have you almost given Harry a heart attack when you've been in the field? Or on the doorstep of Thames House?"

"Who told you I was stabbed on the doorstep?" Ruth raised an eyebrow. "That was before you joined us."

"Malcolm may have mentioned it. I was upset when Beth was injured, he told me how that Caulfield woman attacked you." Dimitri spoke quietly as Ruth's hand involuntarily went to the small scar that was a constant reminder. "And are you ever going to tell us what happened with you, Adam and a tree branch?"

"No." Ruth smiled.

"Aw Ruth." She stood up straight as the door to the office opened. "Miss Smith." Dimitri started as the thin brunette entered the room.

"Mr Levandis, Mrs Pearce." She held out the document to Ruth who took the paperwork from them. "Neither man is on duty today. Grant Morgan is on holiday in Spain with his family and Steven Evans is on sick leave."

"Sick leave?" Ruth asked. "What's wrong with him?"

"Stress." Miss Smith snapped. "At least that is what his sick paper said. You'd have to speak to him."

"Oh we will." Ruth narrowed her eyes, aware that she was getting to the younger woman. "And when is Morgan back from holiday?"

"He is on leave until the end of next week." She snapped.

"That's ok." Dimitri stated. "We have extradition treaties with Spain. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Well, really." Smith raised an eyebrow. "This is all very dramatic for a woman convicted of terrorism charges."

"I think we'll decide what is in the interests of National Security." Ruth stated as the woman in front of her seemed to visibly shrink in front of them. Dimitri nodded.

"Boss?"

"I think we are done here." Ruth stepped away from the younger woman. "Thank you for your coöperation." She stepped out of the office as Dimitri followed, leaving Miss Smith to wonder what had just happened.

#######################

Beth placed a mug of tea in front of Henry as the old man took his hat off and rested it on the table.

"Thank you." He looked up. "And I don't just mean for the tea either."

"It's ok." Beth smiled slightly before sitting next to him. "Joan told me what she could but I still don't understand why all this is coming back now. I mean it was nineteen years ago, before Harry was the boss. Before any of us were in the service." She watched as Henry picked up his mug. "Why now? Why would Fitzgerald, O Callaghan and McCarthy want to finish what they started? Why was James killed?"

"Aye lass." Henry sighed. "When you were a baby things in the security services were a lot different to what they are now. We didn't have all the gadgets and tech you have now. We didn't have a tech team like Malcolm and the boys."

"I know." Beth watched. "What I need to know is why?"

######################

June 1994

"Henry." Connie marched into Henry's office without knocking. He looked up to see her glaring at him.

"Constance."

"Have you seen the news? Have you spoken to Harry or Juliet?" She asked as he shook his head. "Well, really." The phone began to ring as he regarded his analyst. "Answer it. It's probably the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland or the PM."

"PM?" He picked up the phone and instantly resisted the urge to swear. "Sir? Yes I am aware of a plot in Belfast. I have officers working over there at the moment." He glanced up to see Connie glaring at him. "What? No I was not kept informed of this development. Yes, Sir. Of course. As soon as I have been fully appraised of the situation." He hung up the phone. "Well, Constance. The shit has certainly hit the fan now."

"Yes, so it would seem." Connie answered icily. "I spoke with Harry. Juliet is in a coma and James is dead."

"What?" Henry glared at her. "What did you just say?"

"Terry was turned. I don't know the exact details but he arranged to meet Harry at the Conference Centre, claimed he had information he needed Harry to get back to London. Juliet turned up just as McCarthy and Terry realised James was with Harry. You see? It seems Harry was going to be late for the RV so he asked James to be there. Seems Harry was already trying to get information to you." Connie watched as the colour drained from the Section Head's face.

"Terry was turned."

"So it would seem." Connie glared at him. "James was shot dead, Harry tried to get Juliet away but he got a bullet in his leg for his trouble and Juliet was hit by shrapnel. They didn't stop the bomb going off, just managed to stop it reaching the Conference Centre." Connie snapped. She was clearly angry and blaming Henry for the young man's death. He sighed.

"I need to talk to Harry."

"No, maybe you need to listen to him." Connie snapped, "Before anyone else gets killed. The death toll, including James is currently four but could rise. A child died Henry. A teenage girl died as she walked past the van."

"Oh my God." Henry closed his eyes. "Oh my God."

"James, a girl and a young couple." Connie paused. "So far. I have James' home address for when you want to tell his wife. Her name is Katie by the way. His daughter is Emily."

"I am aware of that." Henry snapped. "How did we miss this? How did we not see Terry was on the blink?" He ran a hand over his face as Connie shook her head. Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of the young man with a gift for technology.

"I don't think we did." She sighed. "I think Harry and Juliet were well aware of a problem and they tried to tell you. Now, do you know if Juliet has a next of kin? Because I see none on her records."

"Aye, she does." Henry paused. "I'd better talk to Jane, can you stall the Home Secretary until I've found out what has happened to Harry and the others?"

"He's going to be aware already. It's all over BBC and ITN." Connie walked out the office as Henry shook his head, knowing he had just headed up his last operation.

##################

June 2013

Harry pushed the door to the Briefing Room open as Beth looked up. Henry kept his eyes firmly on the table.

"Sir." Beth got to her feet. "Is?"

"Dimitri found Ruth, they are on the way back." Harry smiled slightly at the relief that flooded the younger woman's face. "Can you help Tariq?"

"Yes sir." Beth hurried out of the room, knowing Tariq would not need any help from her, Harry just wanted to talk to his former mentor alone. Harry waited a moment before he sat in the seat vacated by Beth.

"Henry."

"Is Ruth alright?"

"I believe so." Harry paused. "Henry."

"I let you down, boy." Harry rolled his eyes at the use of the word 'boy'. "All those years ago I should have listened to you when you told me Terry was on the blink. I think maybe James and those other youngsters would be alive if I had. You have nothing to reproach yourself for."

"I sent James to meet him because I was going to be late." Harry sighed. "Anyway, none of this is helping us now."

"Aye, maybe not." Henry nodded. "Maybe not, but it needed to be said. Young Elizabeth, she's a good officer. You did well to keep her on. Loyalty. That was always your strong point as a field officer."

"My ex wife would disagree with you there." Harry smiled sadly. "At least if she could."

"Well, far be it of me to speak ill of the dead but she wasn't exactly the most loyal of women. You do know she had an affair with Terry and Fitzgerald."

"Among others." Harry sighed wearily. "I clearly wasn't enough for her. Is that why you think Terry wants to finish what he started? Ros, Lucas, Calum and Alec have been through the Conference Centre with a fine tooth comb. There is nothing to suggest an attack. It is probably the second most secure building in London next to Buckingham Palace."

"Even that got broken in to."

"Not on my watch." Harry stated as Henry chuckled.

"No, son. Not on your watch." Henry shook his head. "I believe Terry is unstable and being in the Maze and various other high security prisons isn't gonna have helped. I should have listened to you back then, got him out of Ireland and got him to Tring."

"It's now I am more concerned about."

"Aye." Henry nodded. "And rightly so, but how would you feel twenty years from now if you found out Lucas, Adam or Zafar had gone on the blink only for you to miss it?"

"As guilty as sin, no doubt." Harry conceded. "But guilt is useless unless it can be used to change the outcome. Fitzgerald wants me dead, doesn't really care if he takes anyone else with him. Which is why Lucas was attacked earlier."

"Is he ok?" Henry sat back in the chair. "Does Rosalind know?"

"Yes and yes. Spike saved the day." Harry smiled as he remembered the reunion between Calum and the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He couldn't help but think Catherine was marrying a man that was just like her father, when it came to showing pets affection. It was clear Calum loved the little dog as much as he loved Scarlett and the cats. Shaking his head he ignored the bemused look from Henry.

"And?" Henry sighed. "Is this nightmare any closer to ending?"

"I think so." Harry replied. "I really think that this time it is. Malcolm is going through the recording and I'll have Ruth analyse it when she gets back."

#####################

Dimitri parked the car behind the small council house on the outskirts of the city as Ruth read the paper Miss Smith had given her.

"I don't like this." Dimitri stated.

"Dim, you wouldn't like it unless I went back to the Grid while you got everyone else down here to rip the house apart."

"Ruth, it was me and Harry that found you and the french assassin. It's not something to be forgotten easily." Dimitri spoke quietly. "We thought you were dead."

"Well, I wasn't." Ruth looked away, remembering how she had fought for her life. "Come on." She opened the car door and headed towards the council house as Dimitri followed her.

"Shit." Dimitri stated as they found the front door open. "This is the right house?"

"Yes." Ruth frowned as he stepped in front of her. "Go back to the car."

"Not bloody likely." Ruth stated, wishing Ros was with her.

"Back up. We need back up." Ruth nodded, understanding what was being said. She stepped back from the house and pulled out her mobile phone. The small red dot flashing in the corner of the window suddenly caught her eyes, she knew Dimitri hadn'r seen it.

"DIM!" She grabbed the back of his leather jacket before dragging him to the ground, just before the ground shook beneath them as the house exploded.

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A/N dun dun dun. More Lucas, Ros and the rest of the team next time x Please review.


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Over 100 reviews! Thank you all for reading and taking the time to review.**

**Reality Bites**

June 1994

Henry sighed heavily as he stared at the closed office door. The doctor on the other end of the phone had been less than helpful. He had no idea if Harry hadn't wanted to talk to him or had been unable to. Shaking his head he pulled himself to his feet and grabbed his jacket. It was time to face the Home Secretary.

"Henry." Connie got to her feet as she watched him leave the office. "Have you spoken with James' family? Or Juliet's?"

"No." Henry straightened his tie. "No, I am going to Whitehall."

"You have to face this. Juliet is a cow but she's one of Section B. You have to acknowledge she is in hospital. James is dead - Harry is in theatre today and Juliet is fighting to live. The RUC have Terry in custody. The death toll has risen."

"Oh God no." Henry paused.

"Aiden McCarthy. Five dead, including James." Connie sighed. "Do you want me to talk to Jane? Tell her about Harry?"

"No." Henry paused. "No, you're right. It's my responsibility. I'll speak to the Home Secretary and go to see Kate Davies." He scratched his beard before walking towards the pods. Connie shook her head and sat down. She felt sick as she watched him go. The thought of James' daughter growing up without a father and Harry's small children coping with Harry in hospital and a mother that was barely indifferent at the best of times.

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June 2013

"There's been an explosion." Zoe stated as she walked through the Grid. Harry left the Briefing Room and watched as the Grid began to go into overdrive. "House in West London. Seems one of our pool cars was seen on camera parked a few hundred yards away."

"Pool car?" Erin pulled her jacket on as Adam and Zaf got to their feet. "Dimitri?"

"I assume so."

"CCTV confirms it." Malcolm stated as Harry marched towards the Pods. "Harry?"

"Keep trying to get hold of Ruth and Dimitri. Beth, stay here with Henry. Ros, Lucas with me." He paused. "Adam and Zaf I want you to rip apart McCarthy's B&B. Erin, do you still have contacts in K?"

"One or two." Erin paused.

"Talk to them. I know Fitzgerald investigated their Section last year. I want to know why and was it justified? Has he pulled this stunt before."

"Ok." She paused. Not for the first time thinking she was being kept away from the action. "Ok."

####################

"Dim?" Ruth coughed as she felt a weight pining her to the ground. Her head hurt and she knew that she was going to be covered in bruises when she checked herself over. "Dimitri? Are you ok?"

"Bloody Hell." He groaned. "Beth?"

"You'll see her soon. Can you move?"

"Oh bloody Hell, my leg." Dimitri gasped as he tried and failed to move his left leg. "My knee doesn't want to move."

"Ok." Ruth paused as she tried to ignore the screech of car alarms threatened to deafen her. She could barely move but knew it was more to do with Dimitri pining her to the pavement rather than her own injuries. "You may have been right about me being out in the field."

"You think?" Dimitri smiled. "Ok, while we are waiting for help, you, Adam and a tree branch. Come on, spill Pearce."

"Oh God," Ruth closed her eyes for a moment.

"Ruth?"

"Ribs," She paused. "Ribs are killing me. I hit a man who was trying to kill us with a cross bow. That's all. My first time undercover and me and Adam were almost killed."

"Set a precedent." Dimitri paused as sirens seemed to get nearer and nearer.

###############

June 1994

"Kate, I am so sorry." Henry paused as he watched the young woman. He had no idea that she was so heavily pregnant. Kate nodded before closing her eyes for a moment. "He was an excellent officer."

"Yes." She nodded. "And he loved me and Emily. He would have loved this baby too."

"When are you due?"

"Two weeks." She sighed as she rested a hand on her abdomen. "What about the others? I know he wouldn't have been in the field as you call it on his own. Did anyone else die? Get hurt?"

"Aye lass." Henry paused. "One man is recovering from gunshot wounds but may never walk properly and one girl is in a coma with head and back injuries. James' sacrifice saved many more people than I can even begin to imagine." He rested a hand on her arm as she held back the tears.

"Thank you but I think you should go now. Jamie always told me how busy you were." Henry nodded as he spotted a little girl in the doorway of the living room. Part of his heart broke as he realised how much like James the little girl was.

"Aye, lass. I'll leave you in peace."

"Peace? I think that's long gone. Now." Kate said sadly. "Thank you for telling me."

"He'll be awarded the DSO. Posthumously of course but a Distinguished Service Order is the least he deserves."

"You're right." Kate showed him to the door as the little girl watched. "It's the least."

#######################

June 2013

Harry pushed his foot to the accelerator as Calum fed him directions over his earpiece. He knew Ros and Lucas were in the other car but had no real wish to arrive at the scene after he did. Part of him knew there was no way he should be heading out into the field when there was a very real threat to his life. But this was his team. They had all put so much on the line for him over the years. It was Ruth. Neither her nor Dimitri had answered their mobiles since Zoe had found out about the explosion. Screeching the 4x4 to a halt he saw Lucas talking to a paramedic as his heart sank.

"Harry." Ros walked towards him as he realised the young couple had arrived well before him. "There was a bomb planted in the house. The prison guard, Steven Evans is supposed to be on the sick but according to his neighbours he hasn't been seen since Jane died."

"I." Harry looked around at the debris.

"Dimitri is in the back of an ambulance on the way to The Royal and Ruth is being as stubborn as ever."

"Ruth?" Harry frowned, aware that there seemed to be no sign of the analyst.

"Says she is fine. Lucas is talking to the DI with the Bomb Squad. The clowns are all over this." Ros stated with some disdain. "She's talking to the police officer over there." Ros sighed as she realised there was no talking to Harry until he had seen Ruth was in one piece for himself.

"Ok." Harry turned as he realised Ruth was walking towards him, looking slightly unsteady on her feet.

"It was planted, knowing either the police or us would come to look for him." Ruth sighed. "The Bomb Squad are inside the house now." Ros nodded as she excused herself to find Lucas. "Dimitri has a broken leg. I'm no doctor but you don't need to be to see the damage. The front door blew out and crushed him. And me." She touched her ribs.

"You should be in hospital."

"Harry." She raised an eyebrow as he realised there was very little he could say to convince her. Ruth hated hospitals and had done since her father had died in one when she was a little girl. "I'm fine." A shout startled them as Ruth turned to see Lucas and a police officer leave the half destroyed house.

"Steven Evans has been accounted for." Lucas stated gravely. "If he did plant the bomb then he didn't intend to be around to see if go off or escape from it."

"Lucas, enlighten me." Harry snapped as Ruth's eyes filled with tears.

"He's dead." Ros deadpanned. "Apparent suicide, if you believe what you see."

"Which somehow I don't." Harry snapped. "Two suicides seems a little unlikely when you think about it."

"Smith did say his sick paper said he was ill with stress." Ruth sighed. "I don't like this, Harry. Fitzgerald is trying to cover all bases. We have McCarthy and O Callaghan in custody. We know he was in Belfast the same time and was communicating with both men while they were in prison. This has gone on too long. We're missing something."

"Well." Ros turned to look at the house where forensic and bomb squad officers were painstakingly beginning their work. "Back to the Grid. There isn't anything else to be done here. Not now." She stalked off towards the car as Lucas shrugged his shoulders and followed her. Ruth watched them go for a moment before turning to face Harry.

"I."

"Come here." He half whispered before pulling her gently into his arms. " Ruth closed her eyes for a moment, ignoring the protesting from her ribs.

"Beth has to be told about Dimitri." He nodded before kissing her hair. "Back to the Grid. I think it is about time we put an end to this."

"Really?" Ruth smiled.

"Come on. I want to see what Erin has found out before anything else happens." Ruth stepped away from him as the police carried on working on the abandoned house. A Coronor's van pulled out as Ruth shook her head, realising how close she and Dimitri had come to adding to the deat toll Operation Sunflower had caused.

#############

A/N Maybe one more chapter and an epilogue left. Please review. I think this story will lead straight into Cold, which is the next in my little saga :D


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Thank you all for the reviews. I started Uni today which was an experience in itself. Just found out how much work I have, so updates will be reduced to perhaps once or twice a week! **

**Digging the Dirt.**

Erin walked through the doors of Section K, amazed at how the place had changed. The deep pile carpet was certainly new as was the man sat behind the glass wall at the far end of the floor. She took a deep breath and headed towards the desk of the woman who had replaced her when she had finally moved to Section D.

"Claire."

"Well, bad pennies do return." Claire pushed her glasses further up her nose as Erin pulled a face.

"Nice to see you too." Erin narrowed her eyes. "I need to speak to Monroe. Is he busy?"

"Asking for your old job back? Anti-terrorism not your thing after all?"

"No chance of me coming back here. You are more than welcome to it." She headed towards Monroe's office without looking back at the small brunette woman. She tapped on the door once before pushing the door open.

"Well, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Monroe smiled up at her. "Fed up of Harry Pearce already?"

"He's ok." Erin smiled slightly. "I wanted to talk about Frederick Fitzgerald and the investigation that got rid of Brannigan."

"I wasn't here then." Monroe was automatically on the defensive. Erin smiled slightly, glad that she was able to cause her ex boss some discomfort.

"I know but you know what happened. Come on Neil. You know as well as I do you were parachuted in to cover when he was investigating." Erin smiled sweetly, knowing Monroe had always had a soft spot for her. It was the one time she knew she could use to her advantage. "Did they find anything?"

"Not really. The stress almost killed Brannigan though. You know what David was like. Lived on his nerves as it was. Hardly the type of person you'd associate with the spy world. The thought he was being investigated for misconduct brought on a heart attack. He's never going to be well enough to come back to work." Monroe looked away for a moment as Erin watched him.

"Had he a need to worry?"

"No." Monroe answered. "He was as dodgy as the rest of us. You know no one in the service who has worked in the field has been whiter than white. If you ask me."

"I am." Erin smiled.

"I'd keep away from Fitzgerald at all costs. He's a nasty piece of work. I believe he tried to set up David."

"On what evidence?" Erin frowned, trying to work out what Fitzgerald was trying to achieve by removing the head of Section K.

"None really. He covered his tracks. You'd have to ask David." Erin nodded before getting to her feet.

"Thanks Neil. You've been a really big help."

"Why were you asking?" He watched as she headed for the door.

"Because I want to keep my place in Section D. If the shit is going to hit the fan the fan should be facing the right direction."

########################

"Another suicide?" Tariq raised an eyebrow as she looked at the rest of the team around the table. "Really?"

"Well." Alec looked away for a moment. "It's what they wanted it to look like. Have we found out anything else?" He looked up to see Ruth studying her paper work as Adam nodded.

"I spoke to the head of the Bomb Disposal Unit. They weren't that impressed that two of ourlot blundered in like loons." Adam watched as Ruth narrowed her eyes but stayed quiet. Harry shook his head.

"Did they say anything useful?" Ros interrupted before Ruth could answer.

"Only that the device was professional. Made to the same specs that the Nationalists and Loyalists in Belfast used to prefer." Adam frowned. "Crude but affective. The timer on it was activated when the door opened."

"They wanted to kill whoever went looking for the prison officer." Zoe shook her head. "They had no idea who that would be. It could have been anyone."

"They didn't care." Calum paused. "They just didn't care who was caught in the crossfire."

"No." Ruth looked up as Harry caught her gaze. "They knew it would be one of us. We've been watched from the start. This is Fitzgerald mopping up. I'm certain of it."

"I agree." Harry nodded. "It's proving it that is going to be the problem. If he is cleaning up then Juliet and Henry need to be kept under constant surveilance, at least until we know that Fitzgerald isn't going to be a problem any longer."

"You want to tell her?" Alec deadpanned. Juliet may have been out of the sservice for a number of years but she was still a formidable person to deal with.

"Well, she's welcome to take her chances." Ros stated as Lucas raised an eyebrow. Zaf shook his head but remained silent. Everyone knew there was no love lost between the two women. Harry turned to her.

"I'll speak to her. There is no way anyone else is going to get killed. Too many have died due to that op, enough is enough." He began issuing orders as the team began to dispurse. Ros pushed herself away from her customary place at the wall. She glanced at Harry, worried that he was about to put himself on the line once more. She loitered in the doorway as Ruth got to her feet.

"Harry." Ros paused, once she was sure the rest of the team were out of earshot. "Wait to see what Erin comes back with."

"Thank you Ros." Harry spoke calmly as Ruth closed her eyes, it was clear he wasn't going to listen to anything that he was told. Adam and Zaf were about to break into Fitzgerald's London apartment before breaking into his computer. Dimitri was still in hospital and for the first time in a long time that the team would be short staffed. He only hoped not having Beth and Dimitri would not have an effect on the rest of the team. "I intend to."

Ros nodded before heading out of the Briefing Room, leaving Harry and Ros alone.

##########################

"Dimitri Levandis." Beth stated calmlly. "Brought in about ten minutes ago, broken leg."

"Ok." The receptionist tapped a few keys on her computer. "Date of birth?"

"3rd December 1978." Beth looked along the corridor as she waited. The A&E waiting room was as full as she expected at that time of night. Children cried as drunks stumbled into the triage where the young nurse seemed to be an expert in handling just about every human state imaginable.

"Oh, here he is. Dimitri Costas Levandis. He's been taken to trauma bay 6. Go through the doors and give his name. The nurse will show you where to go." The middle aged woman smiled as Beth hurried towards the imposing looking door at the end of the corridor.

#############

Adam looked up at the second floor window of the apartment block where Fitzgerald owned a luxury apartment as Zaf opened the car door.

"He's the head of Internal Affairs, yeah." Zaf stated as Adam nodded. "Alec's old boss."

"Yeah."

"On the same payscale as Harry and all the other Section Heads."

"Yeah." Adam agreed. "So, how does he afford a place like this and a house in Kent? His family aren't exactly loaded."

"This could be interesting." Zaf headed towards the glass fronted doors of the apartment block. "Not exactly a council estate in the East End but same idea." He smiled as he produced his lock pick. Seconds later the electronic door gave way. "After you, Boss."

"Nice one." Adam smiled before heading into the building."

########

Ruth sat at her desk watching as the others went about their work. Ros and Lucas had left shortly after Adam and Zaf while Tariq was trying to get hold of Beth. She shook her head as Malcom walked towards her.

"You took a risk going to that man's house."

"I know Malcolm." She sighed. "I know, but it's what we do. Take risks."

"You could have been killed." Malcolm watched as she turned to face him, her hand automatically going to her injured ribs.

"I know but I wasn't. I'm fine. It's Dimitri that's injured. I think I cushioned his fall a little."

"True." Malcolm nodded, aware that the young man would probably be lucky to keep his lower leg. "But?"

"Fitzgerald knows we are on to him. He knows we are investigating what happened in 94. He's going to have a counter attack planned. Especially now we know he killed Jane and had this poor man killed."

"As well as young James." Henry leant against Beth's abandoned desk. "Terry pulled the trigger and served his time but Fitzgerald loaded the gun."

"Are you sure?" Ruth asked the elderly spook who sighed heavily.

"Aye lass."

"Well, I think it's about time you told us everything." Henry froze as he heard Harry approach them. "Fitzgerald may be as guilty as sin but there are two other men in custody and one dead. If I am to go to the DG with this I have to have hard evidence that it wasn't just James that was turned in Belfast, and I have to have more than circumstantial evidence along with the word of an old man."

"You forgot bitter. An old bitter man." Henry sighed.

"I've got the evidence, Harry." Ruth paused. "It's stopping Fitzgerald that is going to be the problem." Harry watched as the remaining officers stared at him. "Malcolm, keep an eye on Adam and Zaf. I know they are ugly enough to look after themselves but we already have one officer in hospital."

"Of course, Harry." Malcolm smiled slightly, glad of something to do. He nodded to Ruth before Henry headed to the coffee machine in the corner. Ruth sighed, knowing she should warn him how awful the machine coffee was but she couldn't bring herself to.

"Ruth? My office." Harry snapped as she closed her eyes. Whatever Harry had to say she knew she was not going to like it. She nodded once before following him into the glass fronted room.

"Harry, Adam and Zaf are turning Fitzgerald's apartment upside down. Zoe is going through the archives. Alec has taken Juliet to the safehouse in Kent."

"Further the way the better."

"Erin has gone to talk to Monroe and the boys are watching and listening in to everything we possibly can. The trade conference starts tomorrow. It's clean. There is nothing that can happen but Lucas and Ros will be there with Adam and Zaf. They're covering the workload for Dimitri and Beth at the moment too. Calum's going to go with them as technical back up."

"Ruth." Harry placed his hands on her shoulders, effectively silencing her. "Ruth, I know. There is nothing we have missed. I know that." He watched as her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Oh no. Oh Harry." Ruth shook her head slightly in disbelief. "You met him once, we achieved nothing but letting him know we are aware of what he is up to."

"Trust me, Ruth."

"I do. With my life. Just not with yours." He smiled as she let him pull her into his arms.

"Thanks, I think." He kissed her hair. "I am going to face him on my own this time. I can't risk them." He nodded to the outer office. "Or you getting hurt."

"Harry." Ruth sighed. "Don't. Just don't leave me."

"I have to do this. You know that, for James and the others."

"Yeah." Ruth nodded. "Just don't let your guilt get you killed."

#############

A/N please review


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer not mine**

**Rooftops**

Ruth walked out on to the main Grid, knowing there was nothing she could say to persuade Harry to avoid a second confrontation with Fitzgerald. Sighing heavily she sat at her computer desk and tried to focus on the words scrolling up her screen.

"Ruth?" Tariq walked across to her desk. "Are you ok?"

"I will be." She smiled at the baby of the team. "I just want this case put to bed. Fitzgerald has his fingers in some very nasty pies."

"Yeah." He sat down. "I've followed the money back as far as I can. He's earning a lot more than I thought someone on his pay scale would. I mean, he's the same rank as Harry."

"He is." Ruth frowned. "So where is the money coming from?"

##############

"You'd think his security would be better." Zaf smirked as he stepped past Adam into the luxurious apartment. "I mean, look at this place. It took me less than two minutes to break in. If this were a real burglary."

"When we finally get him in the Interview Room you can make suggestions about home security then." Adam smiled as Zaf raised an eyebrow. The apartment was immaculate, almost as if it wasn't lived in. "Who keeps a flat this smart?" Adam looked around as Zaf headed into the bedroom.

"He doesn't live here." Zaf stated. "No personal belongings in the place. Even the wardrobe is empty."

"So why?" Adam frowned. "Why keep this place on if you're not going to live in it?"

"Mate, you can ask him that." Zaf smirked. "There has to be something to tag him to this address."

"Or he wants us to think there is." Adam knelt down and began to unscrew the telephone point on the wall. "If he can listen to us I don't see why we can't listen to what he gets up to." Adam placed a small bug on the phone line. "I asked Malcolm to trace all calls in and out of this number anyway."

"And Calum has put a trace on the mobile network." Zaf continued. "Zo was checking it when we left."

"Good." Adam frowned. "If he's not using this place then he has to be staying somewhere."

"Malcolm?" Zaf tapped his earpiece as he watched Adam stand up. He frowned as he listened to the older technical officer. "Adam, he's entering the building. We've got five minutes and he's here." Adam swore under his breath before hurriedly replacing the phone socket and following Zaf out of the flat.

#############################

Beth stared at the floor as she tried to keep calm. It had been almost thirty minutes since she had given Dimitri's name to the receptionist and she was still waiting to see him. Every minute felt like an hour. The noise going on around her didn't even register as she glared at the sterile floor.

"Excuse me." She looked up to see Erin sit on the uncomfortable plastic chair next to her.

"Hi." Beth flicked her eyes back to the floor. "I'm not going anywhere until I've seen him. Is Ruth ok?"

"She says she is." Erin smiled slightly. "You know her better than me."

"They told me to wait." Beth explained. "The doctor is with Dim now."

"He'll be ok." Erin hoped she sounded convincing. "Nothing keeps Dimitri down for long."

"Ruth said his leg was badly damaged. That his foot looked really bad."

"Trust me, Beth." Erin squeezed her arm. "If that is the only injury he picked up from a bomb going off, he's doing well. Look at what happened to Harry and Juliet in Ireland." Beth nodded as she thought about the older brunette and the Section Head.

"What went on with those two? There is definitely a history there."

"I dread to think." Erin pulled a face as Beth smiled slightly. She turned sharply as she heard her name called.

"Oh here we go." She mumbled as she saw Dimitri's father walk into the department.

"Beth! Are you ok? My boy?"

"I'm fine." Beth let the older man hug her. "Dimitri is with the doctors." She pulled back. "Carlos, this is Erin. A friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you." Carlos sighed. "I have told my wife to stay home. She has the flu, no good to the boy in that state. What happened?"

Before Beth or Erin could reply a nurse appeared in the doorway asking for Dimitri's family to come through to the nursing station. Carlos sighed heavily before resting a hand on Beth's shoulder.

"It is you he will want to see. Go on." He pushed her forward gently. "Tell him I'm here."

Beth nodded before glancing at Erin. Seconds later she was following the nurse towards Dimitri's bedside.

############################

Harry walked along the waterfront, deep in thought. He knew that James' murder wasn't really his fault but his friend's death still weighed heavily on his soul. Sighing he looked up to see a tall woman in her mid 50s walk towards him. He nodded slightly as she came closer.

"What is this all about? Don't tell me you are still in the service."

"I am." He sighed. "For the moment at least." Harry looked over the park.

"How are the children?"

"Grown up." She smiled. "Look, Harry I saw you once when Terry was convicted. Why are you here now? To ask after Emily and Jimmy? Emily is 23 now. And as much as I hate to say it she is working for MI-5."

"What?" Harry turned to her. "Kate, after what happened to James?"

"I could hardly stop her. She's her father's daughter." Kate sighed. "She works in Section E. Something to do with computers. That's all I know. Jimmy is at uni. Studying medicine in Cardiff."

"A doctor in the family." Harry smiled. "You must be proud."

"I'm proud of both my kids. Why are you here?"

"He's out of prison." Harry sighed. "It's possible we didn't arrest everyone that was responsible for James' death."

Kate stared at him in disbelief. The colour drained from her face as she listened to his words. "No, I am not having my kids put through this again. Harry, I was in that court room. Terry O Callaghan was supposed to be James' friend. Your friend but he shot James. He put a bullet through your knee and left Juliet for dead."

"I know. But it wasn't just him." Harry paused. "Have you had any contact with Frederick Fitzgerald?"

"Who?" Kate frowed. Harry pulled a photo out of his jacket. "This man?"

"No, never seen him before in my life. Is he? Is he the one you think should have been locked up?"

"I believe he was involved. That's all I can say." Harry paused. "If he tries to get in contact with you or your kids let me know as soon as you can. You have my number."

"I will." Kate nodded. "How's Jane? I noticed the wedding ring."

"Dead." Harry stated bluntly. "Jane and I divorced soon after I got out of hospital. She didn't want a useless cripple for a husband. I've remarried. Her name's Ruth."

"Lovely name." Harry smiled as Kate spoke. "You always were too good for that harridon. Sorry to speak ill of the dead but you were. I hope this Ruth is good enough for you."

"Oh she's far too good for me." Harry smiled. "Take care Kate. Call me if you need anything. Or if he gets in touch." Kate nodded before standing.

"I will." She walked away as Harry watched. The guilt still gripping him. Two children had grown up without a father, for that he would always feel guilty.

##########################

"Ruth?" Lucas jogged down the steps from the Pods as she held her ribs. "Are you ok?"

"Fine." Ruth took a deep breath and winced. "Ribs are a bit sore."

"Hold them before you cough." Ros advised. "It helps." Ruth watched as Lucas raised an eyebrow, wondering how exactly Ros knew that bit of information. "Where's Harry?"

"Out." Ruth sighed. "Adam and Zaf are on the way back, Beth and Erin are at the hospital and Zoe has gone to talk to an asset with Calum."

"Ok." The Section Chief watched her for a moment. "Ruth? Where has Harry gone?"

"To see James' widow. After that I have no idea." Ruth sighed. "I know he wants to meet Fitzgerald alone. Says he isn't going to put anyone else at risk."

"Bloody infuriating man." Ros snapped. "Tell me you've put a tracker on him."

"No." Ruth looked away as Malcolm crossed the Grid.

"She hasn't. I have." Malcolm watched as Ros' lips curved into a half smile. "I fear he may lose all trust in me when he finds out."

"He wont." Ros reassured her old friend. "If he does I'll deal with him. Lucas? Come on." She turned and jogged towards the pods, leaving Lucas no room for argument. "Malcolm, text me his location when I'm in the car. He isn't doing this alone. The death toll from that op is high enough as it is." Ruth swallowed hard as she heard her friend and just prayed she was right.

####################

The Autumn sun bathed the rooftop in light as Harry leant against the wall. The concrete rooftop under his feet held his concentration for a moment. He knew this was the moment Fitzgerald had been angling for and for a moment he wondered why his enemies seemed to favour rooftop encounters.

"Pearce." He lifted hs eyes as he heard the familiar voice. "Rather 007 for you isn't it?"

"That's fiction." Harry snapped. "And anyway it's MI-6."

"Indeed it is." Fitzgerald sighed. "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Harry smirked before inclining his head in agreement. "Why? That's all I want to know. Why was I targeted? Why was James killed?" He turned to see the grey haired man glare at him.

"I loved Jane. You wouldn't divorce her on the grounds of her adultery." Fitzgerald sighed.

"I wanted to give our marriage a chance for the kids. The y needed us both." Harry glared at him. "You know you weren't her first affair. You certainly were not her last. It turned out she was sleeping with Terry at the same time as you." Fitzgerald's face contorted in anger as Harry spoke. "So don't tell me it was all about your scorned attempts at getting her away from me. Jane had her own mind."

"She did." He agreed. "But you were getting too close."

"Money." Harry paused. "You were turned in Ireland. Buying arms for the various groups became a way of life rather than a cover story. That's how you knew about the op we were on. That's how you knew how to find us."

"Doesn't it all come down to money in the end?" Harry glared as Fitzgerald raised his hand, the metal of the gun gleaming in the sunlight. A single gun shot ran out, unheard by those below. Birds shreaked as footsteps sped up the staircase towards the stricken man.

#################

A/n penultimate chapter soon


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer not mine. Thank you all for reading.**

**Conclusion?**

Ros burst through the door which led out onto the roof with Lucas seconds behind her. The Autumn sunshine had faded to drizzle but Ros didn't realise as she saw the body of her friend laying face down on the concrete. Lucas swore as he realised what she was looking at. Fitzgerald lay a few feet away, a bullet in the side of his head causing his features to be distorted as clearly dead eyes stared across at the cityscape.

"Harry." Lucas watched as Ros knelt at his side. "You bloody idiot."

"Gerroff." Harry mumbled as she physically turned him onto his back. Lucas rolled his eyes at Harry's innate stubbornness before heading across to the edge of the roof. He tapped his earpiece and spoke quietly to the SAS sniper Red Troop had leant them when Ros had spoken to the Commander. He had barely remembered Ros calling in a dozen or so favours as he drove across London, hoping that they would reach Harry on time.

"What the bloody Hell are you playing at? You aren't twenty any more." Ros chastised him. Harry opened his eyes and glared at her.

"And don't I know it." Harry touched his chest, tapping the front of his shirt. "He shot me."

"Yeah, that's what we thought." Lucas stated. "He pulled a gun, we have it on tape. Louis says he hasn't fired his gun, he was waiting for the ok from us." He watched as Harry closed his eyes. "He shot himself."

"Bloody man." Harry shook his head. "He pulled the gun on me, stepped forward and fired. I."

"You fell and hit your head. Again. Harry, are you trying to give yourself brain damage? There are only so many times you can hit your head without causing some damage."

"Does she nag you like this?" He ignored Ros as he struggled to get his breath.

"Yeah." Lucas smiled slightly as Ros narrowed her eyes. "He shot you. The damage to your vest will prove that. Then." Lucas walked across to Fitzgerald's dead body. "He turned the gun on himself. You must have knocked yourself out. We heard the shot that killed him." Lucas watched as Harry buried his face in his hands as he processed the fact he was still alive where Fitzgerald wasn't.

###################

"Ruth." Malcolm stood up as the gunshot rang out through the Gird. Tariq swore as he saw her reaction. "Ruth, we don't know."

"I do." She paused. "I. Excuse me." She pushed her chair away from the desk and hurried out of the Grid.

"Do you think?" Tariq sighed as Malcolm closed his eyes.

"I've known Harry a long time. Almost thirty years." Malcolm looked away. "I hope I'm wrong but even his luck is going to run out one day." He glanced towards the Pods where Ruth had exited a few moments earlier. "But honestly, Tariq. Right now I'm more worried about Dimitri and young Beth."

#################

"Hi." Dimitri opened his eyes as Beth walked into the room. She smiled slightly as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "You ok?"

"Me?" Beth ran a hand through her blonde hair. "I'm fine. Your leg."

"Is pretty much wrecked. The docs say I'm off to theatre in a bit." He paused. "Hopefully they'll be able to pin me back together but I wont be running any marathons anytime soon."

"Marathons are over rated." Beth smiled as he touched her face. "So, Sailor Boy."

"They may have to cut it off."

"Excuse me?" Beth's eyes widened. "What?"

"I've signed the consent form. If they aren't able to pin the bone shardds and bits back together, if they can't piece the nerves back together they said I could be in pain for the rest of my life. That I'd be stuck with a useless leg. So, I consented to having an amputation should they decide it's the best way to go."

"They're the experts." Beth watched as he nodded.

"Yeah." Dimitri agreed. "Will it make you think less. I mean, will it."

"No." Beth kissed him. "No it wont change a thing, Sailor Boy." She kissed him again as two porters walked into the room with the nurse. It was time to go to theatre. Beth kissed him again before stepping out of the way as the porters wheeled him out of the room.

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"Infuriating bloody man." Ruth sniffed as she stared out over the London skyline. "How do I tell Catherine and Graham they're orphaned? What do I tell Nick and Gracie? Bloody stupid, stupid man. How dare you leave me?" Ruth closed her eyes as the tears began to form. She screwed her eyes shut and gripped the edge of the roof's barrier. The drizzle still falling across the city, soaking through her blouse but she couldn't bring herself to move. He had done it this time, played one game too many and paid the price. "Infuriating bloody man." She mumbled as her anger began to dissolve into gut wrenching grief.

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"I've contacted Zoe, Alec and Adam. They're all on the way back in." Tariq spoke quietly. "I don't think we should tell them more over the comms."

"No." Malcolm sat at his desk. "No, we can't. We don't actually know anything. Lucas hasn't got in touch, Louis states he didn't fire his rifle."

"Harry would have got in touch if he could." Tariq stated as the pod doors opened. Harry walked in, his tie loosened and a gauze pad taped to the side of his head. He frowned as he realised the team thought he was dead.

"Where's Ruth?" He asked as Tariq stared at him open-mouthed.

"She left a while ago." Malcolm watched as Ros smiled slightly. Harry nodded once before heading up to the roof. He knew she'd be trying to work out what had gone on. While he was happy for Ros to tell the others about Fitzgerald's fate he knew he had to talk to Ruth himself. He pushed the door open and watched as Ruth kept her back to him, her hair soaked to her scalp as she shivered.

"Ruth." He approached her quietly.

"You had to do it." Ruth seemed to be talking to herself. "You had to make sure Juliet was safe. That Henry was. You know he's staying with Joan now? Beth's friend." She seemed to be talking to herself. "You had to act the noble leader and face him on your own. Why? O Callaghan has confessed. McCarthy is going back to prison. But no, you had to be the one flushing corruption out of 5 no matter what the cost. No matter Gracie-Jo wont see her daddy growing up or Catherine's new baby wont know her grandfather." Ruth wiped angrily at her eyes.

"Ruth."

"Oh and now you haunt me." She shook her head. "You are everywhere, Harry. I couldn't escape you when I left and I wont be able to now."

"I'm not dead." He rested his hands on her shoulders. "You may catch pneumonia up here."

"I." She paused, aware that ghosts didn'tactually touch people. She shook her head, before Jo had died she had never even considered the notion that ghosts were real. "Harry."

"I had a kevlar vest on. Bumped my head. I think Ros is hoping it has knocked some sense into me."

"She can hope." Ruth smiled slightly before turning in his arms. "You never do that to me again." She snapped as Harry nodded.

"I wont."

"You don't get to do that. To scare me like that." She narrowed her eyes before wrapping her arms around him and letting him hold her.

"Sorry." He kissed her hair. "I wont do it again." She sighed as he held her, his eyes closed as his lips found her neck. "You're stuck with me."

"Good." Ruth sighed happily, hoping that all the games were over.

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A/N Just the epilogue to go. Please review. Next story is In From the Cold - the return of Sam Buxton, but is she the same girl the spooks once knew? Let me know what you think. It'll probably be the Christmas story this year too x


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